Baseball Does Not Give Up Hope in 11-6 Victory

AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Trailing by three runs entering the eighth inning, the Dartmouth baseball team rallied for five runs in the inning and three more in the ninth to win its final game during the spring trip in Florida by a 11-6 margin over Division III Hope College. Junior Connor Bertsch delivered the clutch two-run double that gave the Big Green (7-8) their first lead of the game, one which the Flying Dutchmen (9-4) could not overcome in their final two frames.

Junior Kolton Freeman led the 15-hit attack by going 4-for-4 with his team-leading fifth home run, three runs and three RBIs. Seniors Justin Murray and Kade Kretzschmar, as well as Bertsch, each rapped out two knocks to bolster the offense and carry the Green to their fourth straight victory.

After Hope broke a 3-3 deadlock with three runs in the seventh, the Dartmouth bats went right to work as sophomore Tyler Cox singled and Murray drew a walk against reliever Ryan Sullivan. Kretzschmar then singled home Cox, but was thrown out trying to take second on the initial throw to the plate. The Big Green brushed off the brief setback as Freeman punched an RBI single to close the gap to one.

Sean Hoey was summoned from the Flying Dutchmen bullpen, but he didn't have any better luck as he plunked junior James House before surrendering Bertsch's go-ahead, two-run double. When Hoey uncorked a wild pitch to send Bertsch to third, Hope called upon another reliever, Dane Martin, who induced a grounder right at the drawn-in second baseman that led to Bertsch getting gunned down at the plate. But another wild pitch and an infield error set up freshman Elliot Krewson to drive in an insurance run with a single.

Three consecutive one-out singles in the ninth, the last one courtesy of House, extended the lead to three, and sophomore Nathan Cmeyla became the last starter in the lineup to get a hit with a two-out, two-run triple, completing the scoring.

Hope took a 3-0 lead in the first on a pair of walks and three singles, the last one off the bat of Alex Capala to drive in two runs.

Dartmouth dented the scoreboard in the fourth when junior Kolton Freeman launched his team-leading fifth home run of the season, plating senior Justin Murray who had singled.

In the fifth, the Big Green managed to knot the score at three when sophomore Max Zajec ripped a lead-off double, freshman Elliot Krewson sacrificed him to third and sophomore Tyler Cox sent a sacrifice fly out to left field.

Things looked bleak for the Big Green in the seventh when the Flying Dutchmen tallied three more runs on just a solitary hit. Two one-out walks and a hit batter loaded the bases, and Spencer Cable delivered a two-run single. A wild pickoff attempt then allowed another run to score to make it a 6-3 lead for Hope College. As it turned out, this merely set the stage for the Dartmouth comeback.

Sophomore Shane Bauer (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory by tossing the final 2.1 innings, yielding just one hit while fanning five. He was the seventh pitcher of the game for the Big Green as head coach Bob Whalen was spreading the workload before opening Ivy League play this weekend.

Hoey (3-1), the sixth of eight Flying Dutchmen pitchers on the day, got stuck with the loss for giving up two runs, one earned, without recording an out.

Dartmouth next hosts Brown (3-8) for a three-game series at Red Rolfe Field at BIondi Park this weekend to begin Ivy League play for both teams. All three contests will be streamed live on ESPN+ with veteran Wayne Young '72 on the mic along with Dave Collins.

Notes: Dartmouth has won four straight games for the first time since rattling off a six-game streak in 2018 to start the month of May … the Big Green have also scored in double digits for three straight contests for the first time in 12 years … Dartmouth finished its trip to Florida with a 4-4 record … Bertsch extended his hitting streak to 12 games and has reached base in 14 consecutive contests dating back to the 2020 campaign … Murray hit his eighth double of the season in just 35 at-bats, leading the Ivy League.

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