Kretzschmar Named Ivy League Player of the Week

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League announced its final weekly award winners of the 2022 baseball season this afternoon, and Dartmouth right fielder Kade Kretzschmar was selected as the Player of the Week for his performance against the conference co-champion, Columbia, over the weekend.

A 6-2, 205-pound senior from Carlsbad, California, Kretzschmar played an integral role in the Big Green ending the Lions' 19-game winning streak and helping Dartmouth take two of three to win its sixth of seven Ivy League series this year, not to mention deny Columbia the outright regular-season title and the opportunity to host the Ivy Championship Series this week. His three-run home run in the seventh inning of the series opener gave the Green their first lead of the game at 7-5, one they never relinquished in the 11-8 victory.

After hitting a double and scoring a run in a 6-4 defeat, Kretzschmar played the role of catalyst in the wild 12-11, 10-inning triumph in Dartmouth's final game of the season. He led off the fourth inning with a single that ignited a three-run rally and put the Big Green on top, 4-3. When the Lions roared back and took a 10-4 lead heading into the eighth, he got things started again with a leadoff single, sparking a four-run rally. In the ninth, he ripped a one-out double — his third hit of the game — and scored for the third time on a two-out, game-tying home run by sophomore teammate Nathan Cmeyla, who received mention on the league's weekly honor roll. Kretzschmar was on deck in the 10th when junior Peter O'Toole stroked the walk-off single.

Kretzschmar finished the series batting .429 (6-for-14) with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs, capping one of the best offensive seasons for the Big Green over the last decade. He ended the year hitting .353 with 16 doubles, a league-leading five triples and seven home runs, giving him the second-most extra-base hits in a season (28) and third-most total bases (106) in program history. Of his 39 runs, 29 came in league play to lead the Ancient Eight, and he drove in 46 runs on the year, which is second among Ivy players and sixth all-time at Dartmouth.

Dartmouth finished the season with a 24-19 overall record and 14-7 mark in the Ivy League to place third in the final standings. The Big Green have posted a winning record in conference play in 12 of the last 13 seasons (2008-19, '22).

Notes: Kretzschmar is Dartmouth's first Player of the Week since the opening weekend of the COVID-shortened 2020 season (Ubaldo Lopez) … this is the fourth weekly honor for a Big Green player this year as Kretzschmar joined senior left-hander Trystan Sarcone (Pitcher of the Week, April 4) and sophomore shortstop Tyler Cox (Rookie of the Week twice, March 7 and April 4).

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