Big Green Come Up a Run Short at USF, 4-3

Wednesday, March 15

Tampa, Fla. / USF Baseball Stadium

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-8

USF

6-12

Dartmouth

South Florida

Freshman Nico Bañez

Photo by: Richard C. Lewis

3/15/2023 4:36:00 PM | Baseball

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Tyler Cox and Nico Bañez each hit solo homers, but the Bulls were able to hold off Dartmouth

By: Rick Bender

TAMPA, Fla. — Freshman Nico Bañez hit a solo home run — the first of his career — with two outs in the ninth, but Dartmouth came up a run short at USF on Wednesday afternoon in a 4-3 defeat. Junior Tyler Cox had his second straight perfect day at the plate for the Big Green (1-8), going 3-for-3 with a round-tripper and two walks, but the Bulls (6-12) were able to scratch out their four runs with an 11-hit attack against six Dartmouth pitchers.

Holding a 4-2 lead entering the ninth, USF called upon closer Riley Skeen to face the bottom of the order, and he quickly retired the first two batters before falling behind Bañez. The left-handed hitting rookie did not miss the 2-1 fastball and crushed it over the fence in right for the solo bomb, whittling the lead down to one. Cox followed by lining a full-count pitch up the middle for a single, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. But Skeen froze junior Tyler Robinson with a 2-2 curve that just caught the top of the zone to end the game for his second save of the year.

The day began very well for the Big Green as Cox, who was 4-for-4 with a walk in the first game of the series last night in the Big Green's first victory of the season, wasted no time putting Dartmouth in front this afternoon. The shortstop belted a full-count offering from USF starter Lawson Gailey well over the left-field fence to lead off the game for his first home run of the season and second of his career.

No doubt about it off the bat … congrats to Nico Bañez on his first collegiate home run!#GoBigBreen | #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/664V2UTCYD
— Dartmouth Baseball (@BigGreenBasebal) March 15, 2023

Big Green starter Eddie Albert and reliever Mac Burke held USF scoreless through three innings, aided by a pair of double plays, but the Bulls touched the latter for two runs in the fourth. Drew Brutcher legged out a one-out double, just beating the throw into second, and Travis Sankovich singled him to third. A wild pitch knotted the score at one, and after Nick Rivera singled, Rafael Betancourt hit a deep fly to center to allow Sankovich to trot home for a 2-1 lead.

The first four Big Green batters reached base in the fifth, but the first was caught stealing, leaving the Big Green still searching for that tying run with the bases loaded and one down. Sophomore Elliot Krewson hit an absolute laser that carried directly to the left fielder, but Bañez was able to tag up and slide across the plate ahead of the throw, making it a 2-2 game.

In the sixth, junior reliever Devin Milberg retired the first two batters before getting into trouble on a pair of singles and a four-pitch walk, loading the bases. When Big Green head coach Bob Whalen summoned right-hander Brady Chappell from the bullpen, USF countered with a pinch hitter, Stanton Leuthner. All strategy went out the window, however, when Chappell's first pitch plunked Leuthner, forcing in the go-ahead run.

The Bulls tacked on a crucial insurance run in the eighth, starting with a one-out hit batter. A pair of two-out singles, the latter by leadoff hitter John Montes, enabled Betancourt to score and give USF a two-run cushion.

Jackson Cothren (1-2) was credited with the victory for throwing a scoreless inning-plus of relief, though he needed help after walking the first two batters in the seventh. Montes led the Bulls with three hits while Sankovich had two of his own while scoring twice.

Milberg (0-1) suffered the loss in his first appearance of the season, yielding just the one run on two hits and a walk while striking out two.

Dartmouth returns to action with a three-game series this weekend at UCF with the first game taking place Friday evening at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats available through StatBroadcast as well as the official site of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com.