Middlebury Comes to Town for Mid-Week Matchup

Tuesday, April 16

Hanover, N.H.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Middlebury

Ubaldo Lopez baseball action versus Bradley

Sophomore Ubaldo Lopez has a team-leading five home runs.

Photo by: Mike Janes

Middlebury Comes to Town for Mid-Week Matchup

4/15/2019 4:03:00 PM | Baseball

April 16, 2019 ESPN+ Broadcast Live Stats Twitter Updates

Of the last dozen games, 11 are at home beginning with the Panthers

By: Rick Bender

DARTMOUTH (11-18)
vs. MIDDLEBURY (15-8)
Tuesday, April 16, 2019 | 4 p.m. | ESPN+
Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park | Hanover, N.H.

Dartmouth will attempt to build on the momentum of a road series win at Brown this past weekend with the Middlebury Panthers coming to Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park on Tuesday afternoon. This is just the sixth non-conference contest for the Big Green over the past four weeks, going 2-3 in those previous games with wins over Bradley and Quinnipiac.

The Overall Record vs. Middlebury
• Dartmouth has played the Panthers 13 times previously, winning 12 of the meetings, including the last six.
• The lone win for the Panthers in the series came during the 1950 season in a 9-5 final.
• The game last year — a 12-1 Big Green victory — was the first between the two schools in 19 years.
• Big Green head coach Bob Whalen, who needs just four more wins to reach 600 in his career, is 3-0 against Middlebury.

Scouting the Panthers
• Middlebury is 15-8 on the season but just 3-3 in the NESCAC, though all three losses were by one run and two were in extra innings.
• The Panthers have scored just over twice as many runs as their opponents this season, 171-85.
• Andrew Hennings leads the team with a .365 average and .514 on-base percentage, but Henry Strmecki is the most lethal hitter with a slash line of .361/.490/.667 and five home runs.
• The Panthers are more like cheetahs on the basepaths with 90 stolen bases, or nearly four per game, led by Strmecki and Justin Han with 16 apiece.
• The pitching staff boasts a stellar 3.03 ERA with opponents hitting just .229 against the Middlebury hurlers.
• The defense has averaged just over 1.5 errors per game with a fielding percentage of .957, while the catches have thrown out seven of 33 base stealers.

Last Time Against Middlebury
Dartmouth cruised to a 12-1 victory over the Panthers on May 9 of last year with five hitters providing a pair of hits, including a three-run homer off the bat of Michael Calamari during a six-run third that blew the game open. Tyler Fagler was credited with his first and only career win to date in a scheduled three-inning start in which he allowed just two hits and no runs. Blake Crossing was 2-for-4 with three runs and a pair of RBIs to lead the Big Green offense.

~~Probable~~ Possible Starting Pitchers
Dartmouth is expected to begin with junior RHP Alec Vaules (1-1, 4.94) on the mound. Earlier this year he had a streak of 10 shutout innings and is tied for second on the team with 20 strikeouts. He will be followed by several relievers, while Middlebury has not announced its starter as of print time.

Murray Named Ivy League Rookie of the Week
Freshman Justin Murray was chosen as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week following his performance against Brown on Sunday. The right-hander hurled seven innings of two-run ball, yielding four hits and a pair of walks while striking out three in earning his second win of the season in the 7-5 triumph, helping Dartmouth claim the series victory. Murray is the third Big Green pitcher to earn the rookie honor from the league office, joining Trystan Sarcone and Nathan Skinner.

Bombs Away at Brown
Big Green batters belted two long balls in each of the three games against the Bears over the weekend of April 13-14 with Matt Feinstein and Ubaldo Lopez each hitting a pair. Lopez now leads the team with five long balls this season, which is the most any Dartmouth hitter has amassed in one season since Jeff Keller '14 hit six in 2013. Of the Big Green's 20 four-baggers this year, 13 have come in the last nine contests.

Save Hunter
Entering the weekend at Brown, Dartmouth had just two saves to its credit, one by junior Alec Vaules and the other courtesy of sophomore Max Hunter. Well, Hunter was given two save opportunities against the Bears and came through in both games, retiring all six batters he faced in the 6-4 win on April 13, then getting the final five outs the next day in a 7-5 victory. He leads the team with 15 relief appearances this year, and in 22.0 innings has allowed hitters to post a measly .150 average against him.