Big Green baseball finished a dreadful season on a losing note this week. Dartmouth lost at home Tuesday 8-5 against Hartford, then traveled to Boston College for the season finale, losing 12-6.
Dartmouth (8-28-1, 5-15 Ivy) fell miles short of the high expectations the team carried into March. Dartmouth fell from one game out of first place at the end of last season a firm place in the cellar of the Ivy League.
Against Hartford, a season-high three home runs in the game were not enough to propel the Big Green over the Hawks (10-27). Jim Wren '10 went yard in the seventh, and Erik Bell '08 and Mike Pagliuarulo '09 each hit home runs for the first time this season in the fifth and ninth innings.
All three of the shots came with the bases empty and could not make up for the damage caused by the Hawks' three-run fifth inning.
Ben Murray '10 had a shaky start, giving up six runs on five hits in four and one-third innings. He was only charged with three of the runs, as Dartmouth's defensive troubles returned. Three errors, including two made by Wren at third base, accounted for half of Hartford's offensive production.
The Big Green was down by just one run and very much in the game before a disastrous fifth inning. A walk, a hit batsman and an error scored one run and put two men in scoring position.
After a long mound visit, head coach Bob Whalen opted to keep his starter in to face Ben Sobocinski. Whalen would regret that decision when Sobocinski laced a two-run single to left and ended Murray's outing.
"The fifth inning was interesting because I felt good," Murray said. "But for whatever reason I couldn't execute when I had to and wasn't able to place my fastball effectively."
Dartmouth was unable to put together any substantial offense in the late innings, with the three homers accounting for their only base-runners in closing out the game. The Hawks tacked on two runs in the seventh and ninth innings, keeping the game out of reach.
The Big Green continued to put runs on the board Wednesday at Boston College, but was no match for the Eagles' powerful lineup that scored ten runs in the first three innings.
A parade of doubles by Boston College (20-23-1) forced starter Chase Carpenter '08 to make an early exit in the six-run second inning. Carpenter gave up seven runs on eight hits, five of them for extra bases in one and a third innings pitched.
"They are a good hitting team, but we as a staff gave them a lot of good pitches to hit," Carpenter said. "Personally, I left the ball up and over the middle of the plate and they hit all my mistakes."
Dartmouth was strong at the plate but could not keep pace with the Eagles' incursion. Andrew Nacario '07 drove in two runs in his final appearance wearing the Big Green uniform.
Wright was 2-3 with two walks and an RBI. Dartmouth went quietly in the late innings against Boston College's committee of freshman and sophomore relievers who allowed only three hits after the fourth inning.
Nick Santomauro '10 went 2-3 to finish the season leading the team in batting with a .395 average. Santomauro walked twice and reached on a fielders choice, but if just one of those plate appearances had resulted in a hit he would have finished with a .400 average that he had carried for most of the season. Santomauro led the team in hits, walks, doubles, triples, RBIs, slugging and strikeouts. Wren and Wright also had strong years at the plate, batting .308 and .303, respectively.
Team captain Russ Young '08 led the team in ERA at 4.03, and Jeff Wilkerson '07 earned a team-leading three wins. As a staff, the Dartmouth pitchers gave up seven runs per game, and opponents hit .338 against them.
Dartmouth is only graduating two seniors this year. Nacario finished his stint with the Green batting .223 on the year, lower than his .259 average for the last three years. Statistics were unavailable from his freshman season.
"From a pitcher's standpoint, he did a great job in the outfield, catching fly balls and helping us pitchers," Murray said of Nacario.
Nacario made only two errors in left field this season, finishing with a fielding percentage of .952.
Wilkerson, the other graduating senior, led the team in wins and collected a 6.75 ERA over nine starts. His durability was second only to Young, and he went the distance in three of his appearances.
"He was a great guy to have on the pitching staff. He's probably the hardest working guy on the team," Murray said. "Both of them were extremely helpful and welcoming to the freshmen."
Bobby Steinsdoerfer '07 will not be graduating this year and should be back in the Big Green line-up for the 2008 season.
"We were definitely disappointed to finish with a record like that," Murray said. "We do have a good team with a lot of potential, and since we're only losing two seniors this year, it speaks well for next season."
