Last weekend’s three-game series against Florida International University brought the baseball team its first win of the season. In the games in Miami, the Big Green (1-2) was shut out on Friday 11-0, beat FIU (11-1) on Saturday 3-0 and took an 11-7 loss on Sunday.
Dartmouth is the only team to defeat FIU, which was in the receiving votes category in the latest NCAA poll.
The 3-0 victory, infielder Matt Parisi ’15 said, hearkened back to the Big Green’s eight-game winning streak at the beginning of last season.
“It feels awesome,” he said. “I know we were one of the last undefeated teams left last year, and now we know how to feels to be on the other end of that. It was good to get a win in the series.”
Several players, including Parisi, pointed to the difficulty of transitioning from Leverone Field House’s turf field to the dirt in Miami. Parisi said this may have contributed to the team’s fielding difficulties in the first game, when it committed three errors. Parisi, who committed only six errors in 40 games last season, had two errors in the first game.
“Their field was particularly choppy,” co-captain Jeff Keller ’14 said. “There were some horrible bounces. A couple balls bounced right over guys’ heads. You really want more of a pristine surface for your first game.”
Last season, FIU’s field was one of the most error-prone in the NCAA, Parisi said.
In the series opener, an 11-0 loss for the Big Green, the Panthers fielded two pitchers that struck out 11 Dartmouth batters across nine innings. FIU’s starter Mike Franco allowed just five hits in the first seven, utilizing off-speed pitches to keep Dartmouth off balance at the plate, Keller said.
“Guys were getting 2-0 sliders and 3-1 change-ups,” he said. “They were throwing more off-speed pitches than any team I’ve encountered in my four years here.”
Meanwhile, on the mound for the Big Green, Adam Frank ’15 and Louis Concato ’14 were hurt by a pair of five-run innings, in the second and sixth, respectively.
All five runs charged to Concato were unearned. He pointed to the mental pressure that built up during the inning, when a series of errors by Dartmouth loaded the bases.
“There were two outs, but then a few runners got on,” he said. “I kind of lost focus a little bit.”
Mike Dodakian ’14, Concato and Keller cited the dramatic change in pitching staff as a major difference this season. The team lost four of its starting pitchers — Mitch Horacek ’14, Michael Johnson ’13, Cole Sulser ’12 and Kyle Hunter ’13 — to the majors.
While in the past the team had a set rotation that led them to expect to win the Red Rolfe Division each year, Dodakian said, this year the team will have to work harder and create new opportunities.
Dartmouth is currently the six-time defending champion in the Red Rolfe Division.
Regardless of the shift, Dartmouth’s pitching staff shut down FIU the next day, allowing just six hits between sophomore pitchers Beau Sulser ’16 and Michael Danielak ’16.
Dartmouth’s first run came in the top of the first, when Thomas Roulis ’15 plated Keller on a single to center field.
Keller scored again in the sixth after stealing second and advancing to third, and scoring on a sacrifice fly from Nick Lombardi ’15, who would go on to score Dartmouth’s final run in the eighth.
The team’s offense showed it could move men into scoring position throughout the game, Keller said, scoring one run in three different innings.
During the final game of the series, Dartmouth scored two in the top of the first but spent most of the game chasing down FIU, which led the Big Green 9-2 after a devastating six-run third inning. After Dartmouth put up one in the sixth, FIU’s catcher Aramis Garcia hit a two-out home run, bringing in the Panthers’ last two runs in the eighth. In the ninth, the Big Green scored four runs, three of which were knocked in on a double down the left field line by Keller.
The team, Parisi said, showed its ability to mobilize offensively while a few freshmen came in and capitalized on their opportunities.
The team plays next on March 14, when it will head back down south to Fort Worth, Tx., to take on the No. 21 Texas Christian University Horned Frogs.
