Big Green Clip Quakers in Pitchers' Duel to Split Doubleheader

Saturday, April 2

Philadelphia, Pa. / Meiklejohn Stadium

11:30 AM

Dartmouth College

9-10, 2-2

Penn

15-7, 3-1

Dartmouth

Penn

Senior Trystan Sarcone

Photo by: Doug Austin

Big Green Clip Quakers in Pitchers' Duel to Split Doubleheader

4/2/2022 6:07:00 PM | Baseball

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Trystan Sarcone and Jack Metzger combined to hold the potent Penn bats to one run in the nightcap

By: Rick Bender

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Senior Trystan Sarcone handcuffed the potent Penn offense for 7.2 innings and junior Jack Metzger retired the final four hitters to help Dartmouth (10-10, 3-2 Ivy) earn a twinbill split with a 2-1 victory in the nightcap. The Quakers (15-8, 3-2 Ivy) launched four home runs in the opener, however, to claim a 9-4 victory to start the day.

After coming up short in the first game, Dartmouth went right to work at the plate in game two as sophomore Tyler Cox led off with a solid single to right, took third when senior Justin Murray singled to right, then crossed the plate on an RBI grounder to second by senior Kade Kretzschmar for a quick 1-0 lead.

Cox and Kretzschmar teamed up to provide the second run as well the next time around, starting with a one-out walk to Cox, who promptly stole second. Senior Bryce Daniel walked on four pitches and Murray single to load the bases, and this time Kretzschmar sent the first pitch into left field for a sacrifice fly.

Dartmouth threatened to extend the lead further in the fourth when junior Connor Bertsch singled and sophomore Nathan Cmeyla doubled him to third to start the inning. But Penn southpaw Joe Miller managed to wriggle out of the jam unscathed on a strikeout and a pair of ground balls.

Sarcone, meanwhile, worked around a two-out double in the first, a leadoff error in the second, and then a leadoff double in the third, keeping the Quakers off the scoreboard each time. His lone mistake came in the fourth when Craig Larsen socked a 1-0 offering over the left-field fence for two-out solo shot, his second home run of the season.

Only once did Sarcone retire the side in order, that coming in the sixth, but he never allowed more than one Quaker to be on base in any frame. But when he was touched for a two-out single in the eighth on his 103rd pitch, head coach Bob Whalen summoned junior Jack Metzger from the bullpen. The right-hander was up for the challenge, getting the third out on a called strike and setting the side down in order in the ninth for his third save.

Sarcone (3-1) went a career-long 7.2 innings, surrendering the one run on five hits and a pair of walks to go with seven strikeouts.

Miller (3-2) was the tough-luck loser, yielding two runs over 6.2 stanzas on six hits and three walks, fanning five.

In the opener, Penn jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the third as Andrew Hernandez hit a two-out, RBI double in the second before Jackson Appel smacked a solo homer and Ben Miller hit a two-run shot in the third.

Dartmouth started to get to Penn starter Kevin Eaise in the fourth, loading the bases with nobody out on a pair of singles and a hit batter. But the Big Green could only push one run across on an RBI grounder off the bat of junior James House. In the fifth, Dartmouth packed the bases again, this time with one out, but Eaise struck out the next two hitters to escape any damage.

After the Quakers tallied an unearned run in the fifth, the Big Green closed the gap to one in the sixth, but against reliever Owen Coady. Once again, the Big Green loaded the bases with nobody out, this time on a single and a pair of full-count walks. Cmeyla brought home one run with a sacrifice fly, then with two down, Cox pulled a ball through the hole into left for an RBI single. Another run scored on the play when the ball scooted past the left fielder, making it a 5-4 Dartmouth deficit.

It looked as if Big Green starter Nathan Skinner would get through the sixth unscathed, but with two down and a man on first, Nate Polo singled and, on the very next pitch, Tommy Courtney yanked a ball down the line in left over the fence for a three-run blast, his first home run of the season. That ended Skinner's day, and Appel greeted reliever Devin Milberg with another long ball, his second of the day and third of the year.

Those turned out to be the last runs of the game as the Green only managed a two-out double by Cmeyla in the eighth and a leadoff single in the ninth by Cox who was immediately erased on a double play grounder.

Eaise (2-1) earned the win with five innings of one-run ball, striking out seven without a walk, while Coady threw the final four frames, yielding two runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts, to earn his first save.

Skinner (2-2) took the loss as he was touched for eight runs, seven earned, over 5.2 innings with six punchouts. Cox had three of the Big Green's eight hits, giving him five on the day and raising his batting average to .392 on the season.

The two teams will play the rubber game of the series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m., streamed live on ESPN+.

Notes: Dartmouth had not won the last six games in the series, losing five and tying another, until the 2-1 win in the nightcap … Kretzschmar had his 11-game hit streak snapped in the second game despite driving in both runs … Sarcone had never thrown more than six innings in a college game … Metzger has retired 21 batters since last surrendering a hit.