Big Green Bested by Bradley in Series Finale, 6-3

Thursday, March 21

Winter Haven, Fla. / Chain of Lakes Park

10:00 AM

Dartmouth College

5-10

Bradley

10-6

Dartmouth

Bradley

Senior Matt Feinstein

Photo by: Mike Janes/Four Seam Images

Big Green Bested by Bradley in Series Finale, 6-3

3/21/2019 1:11:00 PM | Baseball

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Matt Feinstein had three of Dartmouth's nine hits

By: Rick Bender

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Dartmouth scored three times in the sixth to even the score with Bradley, only to have the Braves score one in the seventh and two more in the eighth as the Big Green faltered in their final game in Florida, 6-3. Brendan Dougherty tripled and scored the winning run as Bradley improved to 10-6 on the season.

After the Braves had built up a 3-0 lead through five frames, Dartmouth (5-10) finally got Cole Cook in the sixth, beginning with senior Matt Feinstein's leadoff triple into the right-field corner. Junior Michael Calamari followed with a fly to right for the Big Green's first run, and it seemed the inning would end quickly from there after a liner to short was snared for the second out.

But junior Blake Crossing drew a walk and his classmate, Trevor Johnson, sent a ball down the line in right for an RBI double, closing the gap to one. Senior Steffen Torgersen then hit a ball back up the middle that was gloved by the second baseman on the run, but the desperate throw to first was wild, allowing Torgersen and Johnson to advance an extra base and tie the score at three. Cook was lifted in favor of Jed Moscot, who proceeded to walk the first two hitters he faced before preserving the tie on a grounder to second.

Senior Zac Bygum came on in relief of junior Alec Vaules, who in his first collegiate start had surrendered three runs on five hits and four walks while striking out a pair, to start the bottom half of the sixth and immediately got into trouble with a walk and a bunt single. A sacrifice bunt put the runners in scoring position with one out, but the Big Green brought the infield in and gunned down the lead runner at the plate on a grounder to the shortstop, senior Nate Ostmo. A line drive to right was caught for the third out, maintaining the tie score.

Bygum (0-1), in his season debut, was not as fortunate in the seventh and Dougherty yanked a pitch inside the first-base bag and legged out a triple. After a strikeout, Eli Rawlinson sent a sacrifice fly to right to put Bradley back on top, 4-3.

In the eighth, the Braves tacked on a couple of insurance runs on a two-out, two-run single off the bat of Luke Shadid, who finished the game 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs to go with three RBIs.

Dartmouth managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth thanks to a one-out walk and a single with two down. But closer Allan Beer got the final out on a tapper back to the mound for his fourth save of the season.

Moscot (2-1) claimed the win with 2.1 shutout innings of relief, yielding one hit and a pair of walks to go with three punchouts. Cook's day ended after 5.2 frames having allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk with two whiffs.

Feinstein had three of the Big Green's nine hits, while Johnson and sophomore Ubaldo Lopez each had a double. Lopez finished the three-game series 4-for-10 with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs.

Both Dougherty and Jean-Francois Garon were 2-for-4 with a run for the Braves, who also collected nine hits as a team.

Dartmouth will begin conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Princeton. The series was scheduled to be played at Princeton, but field conditions have forced a venue change to Rutgers' Bainton Field. Saturday's doubleheader is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m.

Notes: Despite losing two of the three games in the series, Dartmouth still holds a 4-3 edge all-time against Bradley … the Big Green are expected to have senior co-captain Cole O'Connor (1-2, 8.00) on the mound for the opener against the Tigers with freshman right-hander Justin Murray (0-1, 4.40) starting game two.