The Dartmouth men's baseball team went 8-2 during its spring break trip to Florida, improving its overall record to 9-4. In the 10 games played, the Big Green recorded big wins over Akron University, the United States Military Academy, Long Island University, Grinnell University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, but suffered close losses to Indiana University and Northwestern University.
"It's the best result we've had in a long time," Joe Sclafini '11 said. "Going into the spring trip there are always a lot of question marks. We played really well. We had guys throw well and our offense was fantastic. It was encouraging and it gives us something to build on."
The team began its road trip on a good note, handily beating Akron, 19-2. The win represents a huge turnaround, as the Big Green earned its worst loss of the season against the Zips, 25-10, just one year ago.
Dartmouth demonstrated its strong offensive ability against Akron, with nine Big Green athletes notching two or more hits. First baseman Jason Brooks '11 led the team with five RBIs, one of which was a three-run homerun Dartmouth's first of the year and center fielder Chris O'Dowd '13 led the team with four runs scored in the contest. In the circle, Kyle Hunter '13 recorded the win, pitching six innings with one earned run and two strikeouts.
"It was really nice to beat up on them pretty good," Sclafani said. "The game last year against them was one of the longest games of the year. Coming out the first game and playing the way we did was a huge confidence booster."
The Big Green played its next contest against Army and came away with an 11-2 victory. Five Dartmouth players had two hits in the game. Rookie third baseman Jeff Keller '14 brought in three runs, leading the team in RBIs.
Although Dartmouth's bats were hard at work, the real star of the game was pitcher Kyle Hendricks '12. Hendricks pitched seven innings and struck out an astonishing 15 batters, while only giving up one run and five hits. His performance garnered him several honors including Ivy League Pitcher of the Week and the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week.
"Kyle was great," Sam Bean '11 said. "This is the best and most confident that I've seen him pitch. Before this, we all knew he was a great pitcher. Now, I think he knows it too. I know that when he walks up to the mound, the other team is in for a long day. Army was a good team, and his pitches made them look clueless at the plate."
After coming out strong in its first two games, Dartmouth suffered a tough 10-7 loss at the hands of Indiana. Keller once again led the team with three RBIs, while second baseman Jeff Onstott '11 led the team with three runs. Despite scoring seven runs, the Big Green was unable to overcome the Hoosiers and could not capitalize on scoring opportunities, leaving 10 men on base.
Dartmouth also struggled on the mound. Mitch Horacek '14 pitched four innings before he was replaced by Dan Ternowchek '11, who recorded the loss. The Big Green brought in Marceo Mariscal '12 two innings later to relieve Ternowchek. The three pitchers combined for 10 errors and 11 hits, with only two strikeouts.
In its next game, the Big Green came back with a 6-0 shutout against Long Island. While the offense recorded 12 hits, the errorless Big Green defense was the star of the game. While the Blackbirds had nine hits, Dartmouth fielders were able to keep Long Island scoreless. Michael Johnson '13 came away with the win and pitched five innings with three strikeouts. Mike Dodakian '14 was brought in for relief and also had three strikeouts.
Dartmouth fell 3-2 to Northwestern, enduring its second loss of the trip. The Big Green recorded eight hits in the close contest but could not find the offensive rhythm that it had in previous games. Cole Sulser '12 started in the circle, pitching seven innings with seven strikeouts. Ryan Smith '11 relieved Sulser for the last two innings and was pinned with the loss.
"The two games we lost were close and we should have found a way to pull it out, but this early in the season, we just weren't ready for that," Bean said. "In those games, we just didn't have the killer instinct to put that game away and do what we needed to do to get the win."
Dartmouth also played a four-game series with UMBC, winning all of the contests. In the first game, the Big Green defeated the Retrievers, 13-4, scoring 11 runs in the first inning alone. Bean led the team with three hits, while both Keller and Onstott had two RBIs. On the mound, freshman Louis Concato '14 recorded the win, pitching five innings with three earned runs.
In the second contest against UMBC, the Big Green came away with an 8-2 victory. Six Big Green athletes had two or more hits, while Dustin Selzer '14 led the team with three RBIs from his first career homerun. Dartmouth recorded 17 hits against the Retrievers, but did not capitalize on those opportunities and left 13 men on base. Hunter came away with the win after pitching seven innings with nine strikeouts, earning his second victory of the trip.
The Big Green proved its offensive dominance once more in its third game against the Retrievers, winning 17-2. Dartmouth batters had 18 hits on the day, including a career-high five hits by Sclafani. Many of these hits came in the eighth inning, when the Big Green scored 11 runs. Hendricks recorded his second win of the trip with another outing on the mound, recording 11 strikeouts and just three hits in eight innings.
"I think our offensive success is the product of a deep lineup," Bean said. "We don't have a single easy out.' We may not get a ton of homeruns, but we're very athletic, and we will grind out a lot of at-bats."
Dartmouth finished the four-game sweep of UMBC with a 16-3 win in the last game. Enis Coble '13, Jake Carlson '12 and Turnbull all had four hits in the game, while O'Dowd hit two homers in his first two at-bats. The team's 21 hits made for an offensive show that the Retrievers will not soon forget. In the circle, Horacek got the win after six innings with only two earned runs.
In the final game of its spring trip, Dartmouth beat Grinnell, 5-3, extending its winning streak to five games. Brooks led the team offensively with three RBIs and three hits, two of which were doubles. Turnbull also had three hits and scored two of the Big Green's five runs. O'Dowd had a hit to continue his 20-game hit streak. On the mound, Sulser came in for relief and ended up with the win after pitching four innings with seven strikeouts.
Whalen said the team's spring trip success is a good starting point, but the team cannot become complacent after early wins.
"One of our big mantras is the winning part of the game is more likely to happen if your focus is to get better every day," he said. "We showed that we can play well in each phase of the game, but also that we can get better at each phase. Starting next weekend, the games are much less forgiving. You can't give up four or five runs in an inning and still win. Basically, we are going to focus on the fundamentals. I need to get them to play their best when it matters the most."
The Big Green will be back in action on Wednesday in its home opener against Sienna College.
