Fossand, Michel Pitch Big Green to Twinbill Split at Yale

Saturday, April 21

New Haven, Conn.

11:30 AM

Dartmouth College

9-18-1, 5-4-1

Yale

16-15, 10-3

Dartmouth

Yale

Fossand, Michel Pitch Big Green to Twinbill Split at Yale

4/21/2018 5:19:00 PM | Baseball

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Senior Jack Fossand twirled six innings of one-run ball and sophomore Austen Michel shut the door with three scoreless stanzas to help Dartmouth salvage a twinbill split with Yale on Saturday with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap at Yale Field. The league-leading Bulldogs (16-16, 10-4 Ivy) posted a pair of four-run frames in the opener to begin the day with a win over the Big Green (10-18-1, 6-4-1 Ivy), 10-3.

Dartmouth scored solitary runs in the first and fourth frames of the second game, but easily could have put more on the board after loading the bases in each inning. A single and two walks in the first had the bags juiced with one out in the first, leading to the departure of Yale starter Kumar Nambiar (4-1) with an injury. Tyler Duncan came on to pitch and got the second out on strikes, but sophomore Michael Calamari worked him for a walk to force in the game's first run.

In the fourth, another Tyler — Sapsford — took the mound for Yale and immediately ran into trouble by allowing a Calamari double sandwiched between a pair of walks, packing the bases full of Big Green runners with nobody out. Junior Steffen Torgersen gave Dartmouth a 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to center, and McCaskill walked to load them up again. But the Bulldogs called upon reliever Bobby Cecere, and he induced a double-play grounder to end the threat.

Fossand (3-3) was in command throughout his stint, allowing just two singles over the first four innings and retiring 10 straight at one point. The right-hander allowed the one run on a fifth-inning solo shot by Teddy Hague, his second of the year and just the second surrendered by Fossand in 45.1 innings this year. He allowed just four other hits — all singles — with a pair of strikeouts before departing with his 2-1 lead in the seventh after issuing his only walk of the afternoon.

With the slim one-run lead and the tying run on first with nobody out, head coach Bob Whalen decided not to take any chances and summoned the Ivy League saves leader, Michel, from the bullpen. The righty reliever proceeded to catch the first hitter looking at strike three and retired the next two batters on routine grounders to preserve the lead.

In the eighth, Michel was touched for a leadoff single, but after a sacrifice bunt, he stranded the runner at second on a foul pop and grounder to first.

Dartmouth got a welcome insurance run in the ninth when junior Nate Ostmo stroked a one-out single to left, stole second with two gone and raced home on a single to left off the bat of freshman catcher Bennett McCaskill out of the nine hole.

Michel did not need the cushion, even though he hit a Bulldog with two outs before pumping a third strike past the tying run for his third punchout of the game and to his sixth save of the season.

The Big Green had just five hits against six Yale pitchers, two by McCaskill, but did draw nine walks, three going to Sullivan.

After a ceremony before the first game to dedicate the new field at the stadium, the Bulldogs were full of energy and jumped all over Dartmouth junior starter Cole O'Connor (4-4) in the first. The first three batters all singled to bring home one run before Griffin Dey belted a two-run triple. Dey was still on third two outs later when Dai Dai Otaka poked an RBI single to center, giving the Bulldogs all the runs they would end up needing with a 4-0 lead.

Dartmouth reached Yale starter Scott Politz for a run in the fifth as sophomore Blake Crossing led off with a single, Calamari doubled him to third and Ostmo rapped a single to bring him home. But Politz limited the damage to the one run with a strikeout and a double play, one of five turned by the Bulldogs' defense in the two games.

Yale answered immediately on a sacrifice fly by Harry Hegeman and an RBI single off the bat of Benny Wanger in the bottom half to make it a 6-1 game.

In the seventh, Politz got two quick outs but had trouble getting the third. Calamari launched a solo blast out to right, his third of the year, before Ostmo singled and Torgersen reached on an error. A wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position, and McCaskill beat out an infield hit to plate Ostmo. Sullivan ripped a line drive, only to have it land in the second baseman's glove to end the inning with Dartmouth trailing, 6-3.

When Yale put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, O'Connor was lifted, but two Big Green relievers could not tame the Bulldog lineup, walking the next two hitters to force in a run before Wanger brought home two with a single to right. Dey then lofted a sacrifice fly to conclude the scoring.

Politz (4-3) picked up the win by tossing eight innings while allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits without walking a batter and striking out four. Hague and Otaka each had three knocks in the 15-hit Yale attack, while Wanger and Dey both drove in three runs.

O'Connor, who had won his first three Ivy League starts, was stuck with the loss, battling through 7.1 stanzas as the Bulldogs collected 14 hits and scored eight runs off of him, walking twice and striking out thrice. Crossing had three of the Big Green's nine hits with Calamari and Ostmo both rapping out two.

The two teams will conclude the series tomorrow at Yale Field with the rubber match at 1 p.m.

Notes: O'Connor has given up more than four earned runs in just two of his 25 career starts, both against Yale … Crossing reached base in both contests, extending his streak to 19 games, while senior Kyle Holbrook stretched his streak of reaching base to 18 games … when Calamari walked to force in a run in the second game, it was his first base on balls since the fourth game of the season, a span of 84 at-bats; he had 14 walks in 83 at-bats as a freshman last year … the Big Green have scored three runs in each of their last three games, four of their last five and five of their last eight.