Baseball Opens Season and Long Stint of Road Games Against Sam Houston

Friday, February 23

Huntsville, Texas / Don Sanders Stadium

6:30 PM CST

Dartmouth College

Sam Houston

Photo by: Mike Janes / Four Seam Images

Baseball Opens Season and Long Stint of Road Games Against Sam Houston

2/21/2024 4:45:00 PM | Baseball

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This will be the first time in program history the Big Green face the Bearkats

By: Rebecca Osowski

Games 1-3
Dartmouth (0-0) at Sam Houston (2-2)
Date: Friday, February 23-25
Location: Huntsville, Texas – Don Sanders Stadium

BIG GREEN START CLEAN SLATE AGAINST SAM HOUSTON
Following a disappointing 2022-23 season, the Big Green are looking to start with a clean slate and begin their season on a high note when they travel to Texas to face Sam Houston.

The Big Green added seven first-years to the roster and return 25 players from last year including junior Elliot Krewson who started every game for the Big Green and led the team in at bats (149), hits (46) and of returning players posted the highest batting average (.309).

While the Big Green lost its most heavily used starting pitcher, they welcome three first-year pitchers and return 14, including Jack Metzger who started eight games for the Big Green last season and led the team with 52 strikeouts across 63.1 innings.

OPENING DAY HISTORY
The last time the Big Green won on Opening Day was in 2019 when they travelled to face UTSA. Despite securing the 4-3 victory on Opening Day, they dropped the next three in the series before getting back in the win column against Farleigh Dickson.

For the next two years, minus the COVID-19 year, the Big Green picked up their first win of the year on the second day of opening weekend. Last year, the Big Green did not secure a win until eight games in, defeating South Florida 6-1. The Big Green will hope to get back to their early season winning ways this weekend.

THE LONG ROAD TRIP BEGINS
The Big Green will play their entire first half of the season on the road travelling to Texas, Florida, and California prior to finishing the extended road trip close to home against Ivy League opponents Yale and Cornell. Dartmouth will close its first half of the season against UMass Lowell before returning home to host Ivy League foe Columbia on April 6^th.

The Big Green will travel only three more times after returning home at the beginning of April, including road trips to Harvard and Penn for Ivy League matchups.

SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON
Sam Houston, member of the Conference USA, posted a 39-25 overall record last season and a 22-8 conference record. The Bearkats are 2-2 in their young season, collecting wins in their first two games against Oklahoma State, followed by two straight losses.

Caleb Cotton leads the Bearkats with a .667 batting average through four games but has not collected an RBI. Easton Loyd leads the team with six hits followed by Jace Martinez and Jeffery David who each have five hits. David is also leading the team with three RBIs.

The Bearkats are expected to start seniors Coltin Atkinson in game one on Friday and Marshall Wales on Saturday. In Atkinson's first start this season, the right-handed pitcher threw five innings scattering four hits and six strikeouts while only allowing two runs, one earned. Wales pitched four innings in his first start of the year, only allowing one run but dealing three walks. The Bearkats starting pitcher for the final game of the series against the Big Green is not yet decided.

THE BIG GREEN PROBABLE STARTERS
The Big Green will send senior Clark Gilmore to the mound to open the season on Friday. Last year, Gilmore pitched 41 innings across 12 appearances for the Big Green, dealing 19 walks and 25 strikeouts. He allowed only two home runs during his junior season, holding opponents to a .299 batting average. Gilmore recorded two thirds of the Big Green's wins last season, including the final home season game against Ivy League opponent Cornell.

Senior Devin Milberg is expected to take the mound in the second game of the series against the Bearkats. Milberg posted one of the lowest ERAs on the team last season and pitched 11 times for the Big Green, nearly cutting his ERA in half from his sophomore season. Across 26 innings, Milberg scattered 24 strikeouts and 18 walks, allowing only seven extra base hits on the season.

The Big Green's starter for the series finale is still to be determined.

IVY LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Big Green finished 3-38 last year, collecting two thirds of their wins against Ivy League opponents. Prior to the season though, they were picked to finish third in the league, even collecting a first-place vote.

While they were picked to finish eighth this season, maybe the Big Green will follow a similar pattern to last year, finishing opposite to where they were picked in the poll.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Following their matchup with the Bearkats, the Big Green will play their next three games against North Florida. The Big Green have only played two games against the Ospreys and will look to even the series, if not take the series lead.

FOLLOW ALONG
First pitch on Opening Day is scheduled to be thrown at 7:30 p.m. EST and can be streamed nationally on ESPN+. Saturday's matchup is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EST while Sunday's afternoon matchup will begin at 12:30 p.m. EST. Live stats will be available for all three games on DartmouthSports.com.