Two milestone victories for baseball head coach Bob Whalen
By: Varsity Athletics Communications
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April 20, 1996 — Bob Whalen wins his 100th game as the Baseball head coach
Behind the pitching of sophomore Eric Walania '98 and timely hitting from the bottom half of the order, the Dartmouth baseball team defeated Brown in the first game of a doubleheader on this day 24 years ago, 5-3. It was not just any victory as it gave Bob Whalen his 100th win as the Big Green head coach after first taking the reins of the program six years prior.
Craig Pawling '96
The two teams were locked in a scoreless battle until the Dartmouth lineup broke through for four runs in the fifth. Senior Jake Isler '96, who hit .369 in his career for the Big Green, started the rally with a base hit and came around to score the game's first run. But the big blow in the inning was delivered by the nine-hole hitter, senior designated hitter Craig Pawling '96, who ripped a two-run single, and senior Greg Gilmer followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in the fourth run.
Sophomore shortstop Brian Mosley '98, who had reached base and scored in the big inning, did so again in the sixth for an added insurance run.
Meanwhile, Walania cruised through the first six stanzas, putting a goose egg on the scoreboard in each inning. But Brown took advantage of some sloppy play in the seventh and final frame, scoring three unearned runs before the right-hander closed the door to secure the complete-game victory.
April 20, 2014 — Bob Whalen reaches another milestone victory on the very same field as his 100th
Eighteen years after winning his 100th game as Dartmouth's head baseball coach, Bob Whalen found himself on the very same field in Providence with a chance to win the 500th of his Big Green career. But Brown had other ideas, sweeping a doubleheader on the first day of the four-game series, dropping Dartmouth's Ivy League record to 5-9.
Mike Concato '17
Having won six consecutive Red Rolfe Division titles, the Big Green were on the verge of seeing that streak come to an end. Trailing Yale in the standings by two games, Whalen gave the ball to rookie right-hander Mike Concato '17 to see if he could turn around Dartmouth's fortunes. The freshman came through in a big way by twirling a four-hit shutout, while junior third baseman Nick Lombardi '15 drove in two runs with a double and a home run to help the Big Green defeat the Bears, 7-0, and give Whalen that milestone triumph.
Dartmouth jumped on Brown starter Dave St. Lawrence from the very beginning, scoring four times in the first inning despite the first two batters being retired. Junior Thomas Roulis '15 started the rally with a base hit, senior Dustin Selzer '14 walked and sophomore Joe Purritano '16 drove in the game's first run with a single back through the box. Lombardi followed with an RBI double before junior Bo Patterson '15 dropped a single into center field, plating two more runs for the early four-run cushion.
The score remained the same until the seventh and final inning when Lombardi launched a lead-off blast over the fence in left, his third home run of the season. Patterson then single and sprinted home on a three-bagger off the bat of sophomore catcher Adam Gauthier '16, who then scored on a balk to complete the scoring.
Concato rarely ran into much trouble, though Brown did put two runners on base in the sixth and loaded them up in the seventh. Yet the rookie calmly escaped both jams, inducing a double-play grounder to end the sixth and stranding the three runners on a pair of foul pops to earn his first collegiate victory.
The win ignited a six-game streak in conference play to end the season, allowing Dartmouth to tie Yale atop the standings. In the one-game playoff, the Big Green hammered the Bulldogs, 11-4, to advance to the Ivy League Championship Series for a seventh straight season.
