Offense Rolls Again to Finish Sweep of Princeton

Sunday, April 17

Hanover, N.H.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

16-13, 8-4

Princeton

4-24, 2-10

Princeton

Dartmouth

Kolton Freeman (19) celebrates Justin Murray's three-run homer in the eighth.

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Offense Rolls Again to Finish Sweep of Princeton

4/17/2022 3:13:00 PM | Baseball

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Justin Murray picked up the win and went 4-for-4 with a homer, three runs and four RBIs

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Senior Justin Murray went 4-for-4 with a homer, three runs and four RBIs, plus earned the victory on the mound with six-plus innings of work as Dartmouth completed a series sweep of Princeton on a windy — not to mention alternatingly sunny and snowy — Sunday afternoon at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park by a 16-7 final. Senior Kade Kretzschmar drove in a career-high five runs as well to help the Big Green (16-13, 8-4 Ivy) win their fifth straight game and keep pace in the Ivy League standings with Columbia and Penn.

Eric Marasheski went 4-for-4 with a run and two RBIs to lead the 10-hit attack for the Tigers (4-24, 2-10 Ivy).

Dartmouth scored in six of the eight innings it came to the plate, starting with a solitary run in the first off of starter Andrew D'Alessio. Sophomore Tyler Robinson stroked a one-out single, stole second, took third on Murray's first hit and scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Kretzschmar.

In the top of the second, Princeton threatened to tie the game when Marasheski lined a single to left with runners on second and third with two out. But junior Kolton Freeman's throw to the plate forced Jackson Emus to abandon his quest for the plate, and catcher Nathan Cmeyla's quick throw to third nabbed him before he could get back to the bag, ending the inning with the 1-0 lead intact.

A four-run third put the Big Green in control as D'Alessio lost the plate, walking four batters in the frame. Kretzschmar singled home one run, Freeman walked to force in another, junior Connor Bertsch hit a slow roller to third allowing Murray (who had walked) to score and sophomore Max Zajek lofted a sacrifice fly to center for a 5-0 advantage.

After Kretzschmar drove in another run in the fourth, Princeton got it back with the first tally of the game in the fifth on an RBI single from Marasheski.

Cmeyla had a perfect rebuttal, launching a solo home run to left in the bottom half, his second of the season. Murray boosted the lead to 8-1 with an RBI single, scoring sophomore Tyler Cox, who had singled and stolen second with two outs.

On the mound, Murray was losing effectiveness, however, as he surrendered three runs in the sixth on a walk and three singles, the last by Marasheski to close the gap to 8-4. And when Matt Scannell lined a two-run double to right in the seventh off senior reliever Cole Roland to whittle the Tigers' deficit down to two, the game was suddenly hanging in the balance.

But the Big Green bats starting flexing again in the last of the seventh with four extra-base hits, including a double by senior Bryce Daniel, an RBI triple by Robinson, a two-run double by Kretzschmar after Murray was intentionally walked, and an RBI double by Freeman. Bertsch drove in Freeman with a simple single, leaving Dartmouth with a much more comfortable 13-6 lead.

Brendan Cumming singled home what turned out to be Princeton's final run in the eighth, only to have Murray put the final stamp on the game with a three-run round-tripper that cleared the netting in left-center onto Park Street. Roland then retired the side in order in the ninth, fanning the final two batters, to earn his third save of the season.

Murray evened his record at 3-3 on the year (3-0 against Ivy teams) by yielding five runs over six-plus stanzas on seven hits and three walks while striking out three. Roland tossed the final three innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two free passes to go with a pair of punchouts.

D'Alessio (1-5) took the loss after giving up five runs on five hits and four walks in his three full innings on the mound. He also posted the lone strikeout for the four Tiger pitchers that tried to subdue to the explosive Big Green offense.

While Murray recorded career highs with four hits and four RBIs (and walked twice to reach base all six of his plate appearances), Robinson had two hits with a triple and an RBI while scoring five runs. Cmeyla had a triple and home run for his two knocks on the afternoon, Kretzschmar a single and double to go with his five RBIs and Cox scored and singled twice for his 17th multi-hit game in 29 contests this year.

Dartmouth will finish a four-game home stand on Wednesday when the Big Green welcome Siena (8-23) to Hanover for a 3 p.m. tilt that will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Wayne Young '72 and Brett Franklin calling the action.

Notes: Dartmouth has won nine of its last 10 meetings with Princeton … Robinson is the first Big Green player to score five runs in a game in 14 years since Erik Bell '08 scored five times in a 19-18 win over Army … Dartmouth has scored in double figures in five of its last seven games, averaging 10.1 runs per game in that span … the Big Green lead the Ivy League in ERA in conference games at 3.71 … Cox leads the Ancient Eight in batting average overall (.430) and in league play (.509) … the Dartmouth pitching staff held Princeton's Nadir Lewis — who entered the series with a line of .398/.508/.774 — to one double in 12 at-bats in the series.