Big Hits Lead to Sixth Straight Win

Wednesday, April 20

Hanover, N.H.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

17-13

Siena

8-24

Siena

Dartmouth

Sophomore Max Zajec was 2-for-3 with a run and four RBIs.

Photo by: Doug Austin

4/20/2022 6:11:00 PM | Baseball

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Two homers and a 3-run double keep the Big Green rolling

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Sophomore Max Zajec drove in a career-high four RBIs to lead Dartmouth (17-13) to an 11-4 victory over Siena (8-24) on Wednesday afternoon at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park as the Big Green won their sixth straight game, their longest winning streak since May of 2018.

Senior Kade Kretzschmar and junior Kolton Freeman both smacked two-run homers, and freshman Zackarie Casebonne hit a three-run double to bolster the offense. Zajec stroked a two-run single and a two-run triple to account for his four RBIs, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored as well.

Dartmouth ran eight different pitchers out to the mound today in an effort to get them all a little work. Sophomore Luke Carpenter (1-0) was credited with his first collegiate victory, tossing a pair of scoreless innings to start the game.

Casebonne provided the game's first runs with his bases-clearing double in the second off of Saints starter Billy Rozakis (0-4). The Big Green loaded the bases on singles by junior Connor Bertsch and freshman Jackson Hower before Zajec drew a one-out walk, bringing Casebonne to the plate. On an 0-1 pitch, he shot the gap in left-center for an early 3-0 lead.

In the third, Freeman crushed a pitch to left that left no doubt as to where it would land — Park Street over the netting above the fence for his team-leading sixth home of the season, but first since March 23. That gave the Green a 5-0 advantage, and Zajec drove in two more with a two-out, line single just to the right of the diving shortstop, scoring Kretzschmar and Bertsch.

Vincenzo Castronovo, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day, got the Saints on the board with an RBI double in the fourth, but sophomore Tyler Cortland escaped further damage by getting a shallow fly to right and catching a bunt that popped up, leaving runners on second and third.

In the fifth, Dartmouth put men on the corners with one out when Zajec hit a ball that the center fielder dove for but came up empty, allowing the ball to roll all the way to the fence for a two-run triple, the team's 15th of the year, boosting the lead to 9-1.

Brett Young hit a triple of his own in the sixth for Siena, then scored on Bryce Mordecki's two-out single. But in the bottom half, Kretzschmar answered with a mammoth blast to center field that traveled an estimated 415 feet for his third four-bagger of the year, giving the Big Green an 11-4 lead and double digits runs for the third straight game and fifth time in the last six contests.

Castronovo blooped another RBI double in the eighth, and another Siena run scored on a wild pitch, but senior Kunaal Verma was called upon to get the final out of the inning, stranding two runners. Junior Jack Metzger pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win.

Zajec, Freeman, Kretzschmar and Bertsch each had two of Dartmouth's 11 hits in the game with Bertsch scoring three times.

Dartmouth (8-4 Ivy) next plays at Cornell (8-18, 3-9 Ivy) this weekend for a three-game conference series in Ithaca, New York. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 11:30 a.m., while Sunday's first pitch is slated for noon. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Notes: Dartmouth is 6-0-1 against Siena in the last seven meetings dating back to 2009 … the Big Green are 6-1 at home this season … Kretzschmar extended his hitting streak to eight games and has reached base safely in 22 in a row … sophomore Tyler Cox, who entered the game second in the nation with a .430 batting average, was 0-for-3 but walked to reach base for the 18th straight contest.