Dartmouth Falls to App State, Picks up First Win Over Charleston Southern

Friday, February 22

Charleston, S.C. (Charleston Southern)

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

0-1

Appalachian State

4-3

Dartmouth

Appalachian State

Photo by: John and Matt Risley

Dartmouth Falls to App State, Picks up First Win Over Charleston Southern

2/22/2019 7:07:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 App State Box (PDF)Charleston Southern Box (PDF)

The Big Green split opening day to begin 2019

By: Mike Miezejeski

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Dartmouth earned a split on opening day of the 2019 season. The Big Green (1-1) first dropped a close contest to Appalachian State (4-3) before securing their first win of the season over Charleston Southern (4-10) Friday afternoon.

Vs. Appalachian State
Dartmouth had a chance to tie the game in the top of the seventh, but left a runner on third base as the Big Green fell in their season opener, 2-1, to Appalachian State.

Morgan Martinelli drove in the only run for the Big Green with an RBI double in the seventh. Micah Schroder finished 1-3, while freshmen Emily Lipsett, who batted in the leadoff spot, and Bryce West each collected their first hits in a Dartmouth uniform. Keri White smacked a leadoff home run and drove in the second run for the Mountaineers in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly.

Heather Turner (0-1) got the opening day start in the circle and threw 4.1 strong innings. She only allowed one earned run on three hits, getting her 12 batters out with six ground balls and six fly-outs. Shelby Wilkison pitched in relief and only gave up one hit in the final 1.2 innings.

Appalachian State wasted no time getting on the board. In the bottom of the first, the first batter of the game for the Mountaineers blasted a homer to put the home team ahead, 1-0. The very next batter doubled to the left-center gap, but the Dartmouth defense turned a double play and forced a groundout to get out of the inning. After that, Turner did not give up a hit until the fifth inning.

The Big Green struggled to produce offense in the middle innings, sending 13 batters to the plate in the first five innings. West recorded the first hit of the season for Dartmouth in the third inning.

App State loaded the bases in the fifth on a single, walk and error. Wilkison replaced Turner in the circle and White flied out to left, bringing in what would be the winning run for the Mountaineers.

Schroder singled up the middle in the seventh, to give Dartmouth its third base-runner of the game. Martinelli delivered a one-out double to bring home Schroder, cutting the Mountaineer lead in half. Jade Bravo pinch ran for Martinelli and advanced to third on a groundout, but a strikeout ended the game.

Vs. Charleston Southern
Dartmouth's bats came through in the second game of the day as the Big Green defeated the hosts Charleston Southern, 5-3, for their first win of the season.

Shelby Wilkison (1-0) picked up the first win in the circle for the Big Green. The sophomore threw five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits. Madie Augusto earned the save, going two shutout innings where she gave up just one hit and struck out a batter.

West went 1-2 with with two runs scored and a two-run home run in the fourth. Calista Almer finished 1-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while Taylor Ward collected two hits and scored a run. Tessa Grossman tripled in a run in the sixth.

After Wilkison allowed only one hit through the first three innings, West cranked a two-run home run over the left-centerfield fence in the fourth to put the Big Green ahead, 2-0. The Buccaneers had a quick answer and made it a one-run game in the home half of the fourth with a leadoff solo shot.

Charleston Southern took a one-run lead in the fifth when they put runners on second and third and capitalized with a one-out single to bring both runners in and make it a 3-2 advantage for the home team.

The Big Green helped out Wilkison in the sixth, plating three runs. Ward led the inning off with a double and stole third, West was then intentionally walked and stole second to put two in scoring position. Almer singled up the middle, driving in both runners, putting the Big Green on top by one. Later in the inning, Grossman tripled to right field, scoring Almer, adding a much-needed insurance run, and giving Dartmouth a 5-3 advantage.

Augusto replaced Wilkison in the circle to start the bottom of the sixth and shut the door on Charleston Southern, earning the save.

Dartmouth is back in action Saturday for two more games, this time at the College of Charleston. They first take on Radford at 11 a.m. before facing C of C at 3:30 p.m.