Baseball Closes Out Season with Doubleheader at Sacred Heart

DARTMOUTH (3-36) at SACRED HEART (21-26)
May 13, 2023 • Veteran's Park • Bridgeport, Conn.

Season Ends at Sacred Heart
Dartmouth is wrapping up the 2023 campaign at Sacred Heart on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Pioneers. The Big Green are coming off a 3-2 win in their final Ivy League series and would like nothing more than to pick up two more victories to end the season on a high note.

Series with the Pioneers
• These are the first games between the two schools on the diamond.
• Dartmouth has played just a dozen games against current NEC schools — two coming earlier this year against Wagner — going 8-4 in those contests.

Scouting Sacred Heart
• The Pioneers are in fifth place in the 11-team NEC standings with a 15-12 record and have won three of their last four contests, including Wednesday's 9-5 triumph over Stony Brook.
• Sacred Heart is third in the league in runs scored, averaging 7.2 runs a game with a team OPS just over .800.
• Sam Mongelli has been a beast at the plate with a slash line of .388/.474/.668 with 12 homers, 60 runs and 38 RBIs, all of which lead the team.
• Two other regulars are pounding the ball in Justin Jordan (.358/.391/.528) and Ryan Donnelly (.335/.460/.509).
• This is a team that likes to run having stolen 93 bases in 119 attempts, led by Mongelli who is 20-of-21.
• The pitching staff boasts an ERA of 5.69, which ranks second in the NEC, but the Pioneers have allowed 57 unearned runs due to 75 errors (.957 fielding percentage).
• Jake Babuschak is the staff ace with 4-4 record and 4.28 ERA, striking out 57 in 67.1 innings.
• The closer is Tyler Briggs with four saves and a 4.50 ERA, but an eye-popping 37 strikeouts in just 22.0 innings.
• Pat Egan (Quinnipiac '06) is in his first year at the helm of Sacred Heart. The NEC Pitcher of the Year in 2004 enjoyed a seven-year career in professional baseball, advancing to Triple-A. He then joined the staff at his alma mater as teh pitching coach with three of his starters getting selected in the MLB Draft.

Probable Starting Pitchers
• Dartmouth will hand the ball to LHP Devin Milberg (0-3, 4.50) for the opener. The junior provided a quality start his last time out, yielding three runs over six stanzas, but took the loss against Cornell. As a starter, he has a 1.53 ERA. Sacred Heart will probably counter with RHP Jake Babuschak (4-4, 4.28) who has won his last two starts, allowing four runs over 13.1 innings (2.70 ERA)
• The Big Green's final game of the year will be in the hands of fifth-year senior and co-captain LHP Trystan Sarcone (0-7, 7.91) who is looking to end his career on a high note. His control was uncharacteristically off last time out, issuing four walks in 5.1 innings, but he scattered 10 hits to allow only four runs. RHP Jack Kramer (3-4, 6.10) has only thrown more than five innings in two of his 12 starts, but the team has won his last two outings despite him not getting through the fifth. He did strike out 13 batters in 8.2 innings in those two contests.

Salvaging a Win
Cornell took the first two games of the series last weekend, but the Big Green got strong pitching performances from Clark Gilmore and Jack Metzger to fend off the Big Red in the finale, 3-2. Gilmore left with the score tied at one, but after taking a 2-1 lead in the sixth, Cornell touched Metzger for a run in the seventh to know the score back at two. Tyler Robinson then delivered the go-ahead RBI single in the bottom half after Zackarie Casebonne led off with his first extra-base hit of the season (double). Another of the Big Green runs scored after Ryan Schwartz hit his first extra-base hit of the season, a triple in the fourth. Metzger became the first pitcher on the team other than Gilmore with a victory to his credit.

Casebonne-ing Up
With no other catchers available since April 22, Zackarie Casebonne has caught every inning of every game. His bat has improved of late with regular playing time with a modest four-game hitting streak, going 5-for-11 (.455) with the aforementioned double, two walks, a run and an RBI. This little stretch has improved his batting average 58 points, and it was his double that triggered the game-winning rally against Cornell.

Krewson Puttin' a Bruisin' on the Ball
While Elliot Krewson is the team's leading hitter at .313, he has been on a tear at the plate for the last month. Since April 4, the sophomore has hit .367 (29-for-79) with five doubles, a triple and his first career home run. That long ball is the only round-tripper for the Big Green over the last 13 games. In the last 15 years, the only Dartmouth team to hit fewer home runs was the 2015 squad that hit 10 (not including the COVID-shortened 2020 season).

The Schwartz Is With Him
Ryan Schwartz hasn't seen much playing time in his career, but he certainly has made the most of his opportunities this season. The senior made his first career start in the 6-1 loss to UMass Lowell on April 4 after collecting a pair of hits in four at-bats off the bench coming into the game. He added another single in his only plate appearance against No. 11 Boston College. And he has started three of the last five conference games, going 4-for-12 in those contests with his first triple. For his career, Schwartz is now hitting .333 with eight hits in 24 at-bats.

Schedules