Big Green Blanked in Pitchers’ Duel with Yale

Sunday, April 16

Hanover, N.H.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-27, 0-12

Yale

13-16, 7-5

Yale

Dartmouth

Junior Devin Milberg tossed five shutout innings in his third career start.

Photo by: Doug Austin

Big Green Blanked in Pitchers’ Duel with Yale

4/16/2023 4:17:00 PM | Baseball

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The game's only run scored on a bases-loaded walk in the seventh

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — On a pleasant, calm and cloudy Sunday afternoon at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park, Yale and host Dartmouth matched up in a classic pitchers' duel that featured plenty of stellar defense. Only one could emerge victorious, and the spoils went to the visiting Bulldogs (13-16, 7-5 Ivy), who pushed across their only run in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to finish an Ivy League series sweep of the Big Green (1-27, 0-12 Ivy) with a 1-0 win.

Both starting pitchers proved difficult to solve with Dartmouth's Devin Milberg tossing five scoreless stanzas and Yale's Daniel Cohen blanking the Green for six. Milberg, making just his third career start, had never thrown more than three innings in a college game before today, and the left-hander allowed three hits and a pair of walks while striking out three. The freshman Cohen, meanwhile, got the start for just the second time in his career holding the Dartmouth bats to a mere two hits and three walks while fanning four.

The only real trouble Cohen faced came in the second after he got the first out on a diving catch by center fielder Jimmy Chatfield. The Big Green loaded the bases on a Milo Suarez single and a pair of two-out walks that followed a leaping catch on a flare by third baseman Davis Hanson. But on the very next pitch, Cohen induced a pop to short to end the threat.

It looked as if Yale would take the lead in the fifth when the first two hitters reached on the game's lone error and a single, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. But on a chopper to third, the runner at third took off for home on the throw across the diamond, and first baseman Max Zajec alertly fired to the plate to easily gun down the runner for a double play. Although Milberg walked the next two batters, he got a lazy fly to center to keep the game scoreless.

Clark Gilmore shows off his sleight-of-hand skills with the behind-the-back grab on the comeback to end the 6th! Still scoreless, watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/6be3DTayWW #SCTop10 | @ESPNAssignDesk | @D1Baseball | #webgem pic.twitter.com/qpGznDVM0r
— Dartmouth Baseball (@BigGreenBasebal) April 16, 2023

Big Green reliever Clark Gilmore found a spot of trouble in the sixth with runners at first and third and two down. The junior right-hander escaped unscathed with a bit of magic by spearing Ben Metzner's comebacker behind his back and tossing to first to get the third out.

Gilmore (1-3) could not pull another Houdini act in the seventh, however, after Yale loaded the bases in the seventh with one gone on a double by Alec Atkinson — his second of the game — a hit batter and a single up the middle that second baseman Peter O'Toole kept on the infield to save a run. Hanson was the next batter and waited out Gilmore, drawing the walk that forced Atkinson home. Senior Luke Carpenter relieved Gilmore and was able to keep it a one-run game by punching out the first batter he faced and getting a grounder to third that Connor Bertsch made a terrific diving play on to get the out at first and retire the side.

The Bulldogs turned the game over to the bullpen at that point with Cohen (2-3) having thrown 108 pitches. Bryant Reese got the first two outs of the seventh before giving up consecutive singles to Zackarie Casabonne and Tyler Robinson. Side-armer Josh Richardson was summoned from the bullpen and got the third out on a routine grounder to second.

Jackson Hower poked a one-out single in the eighth and was on second with two down when Bertsch hit a hard one-hopper to the shortstop's left, but it was easily turned into the third out. And in the ninth, Hanson made another terrific play on a line drive with a lunging, leaping grab of Kolton Freeman's hot smash for the second out. Although closer Mark Capell walked Luke Carroll with two outs, he got a grounder wide of first that Colton Shaw stabbed with a dive to his right, gathered himself and sprinted to the bag for the final out, securing Capell's second save this season.

Not your typical double play, but it comes in handy! Milberg has shut out Yale through five, we're coming to bat in the bottom half, watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/6be3DTayWW #GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/PJysCcKZFP
— Dartmouth Baseball (@BigGreenBasebal) April 16, 2023

Dartmouth collected five hits in the contest, and only Casabonne reached base more than once with a single and a walk. Yale mustered just six hits of its own, led by Atkinson's two doubles.

"That was simply a good college baseball game today," Big Green head coach Bob Whalen said after the game. "Although we couldn't push a run across today, I was very pleased with the guys on the mound and the defense behind them. They really did a tremendous job out there."

Dartmouth will look to end its program-record 20-game losing streak when it begins an eight-game road trip at Siena (6-29), who suffered through a 15-game skid earlier this season. The game will be played on Wednesday, April 19 at 3:30 p.m. at the Saints' Connors Park with a live stream available on Siena All-Access.

Notes: The Big Green have lost 11 consecutive home games for the first time in program history … Coach Whalen is now 10-11 in 1-0 games during his 34-year tenure as the Dartmouth head coach … Over the last eight games, Big Green starting pitchers have posted an ERA of 2.21 spanning 40.2 innings.