Hanover
At 10-6, the Big Green’s winning percentage is .625, and only five times during the past 50 years has it done better by the end of its southern swing. This year, the trip featured games in Florida and South Carolina and was highlighted by series victories over No. 17 Miami and No. 26 Central Florida.
Dartmouth would have swept the traditionally powerful Hurricanes if not for a bizarre ending to its lone loss in the three-game set. The umpires called two balks on Big Green pitchers in the ninth inning, including one that brought home the deciding run. That irritant aside, the team is averaging two runs per game better than it did at this time last year.
“It comes from the upperclassmen having a more aggressive mindset,” said senior first baseman Michael Ketchmark, who’s batting a team-best .381 among players with at least 30 trips to the plate. “We’ve said we need to come out swinging in the first inning and not wait until the fifth or the seventh. We can’t be taking fastballs and if they hang a curveball, hit it.”
Dartmouth is slated to open Ivy League play today with a doubleheader at Pennsylvania, although the Philadelphia forecast calls for rain. Sunday, the Big Green is scheduled to play two at Columbia. Dartmouth’s home debut comes next weekend when it hosts Princeton and Cornell for twinbills.
Dartmouth features impressive pitching, led by seniors Beau Sulser and Michael Danielak. Sulser, who last year returned from arm surgery, is 2-0 in as many appearances and hasn’t surrendered an earned run during his 12 innings of work. After pitching in a summer league, Sulser didn’t throw much last fall and has been used carefully this spring.
Danielak, more often a reliever than a starter last spring, is 4-0 in as many starts and has a 1.98 earned-run average in 27⅓ innings. Sophomore right-hander Cole O’Connor was part of the starting rotation against Ivy teams last season but was 0-2 and 3.12 in eight such appearances. He’s currently at 1-1 and 3.92.
The bullpen, expected to be anchored by junior Patrick Peterson, has instead been led by senior Chris Burkholder, who has a 1.42 ERA in 12⅔ innings and who led the team with 19 appearances last year. Peterson has had to overcome injury and control problems, but assuming he rebounds, the Big Green could be dynamite in relief. He and Burkholder are righthanders, as are 14 of the 17 pitchers listed on the roster.
Providing a spark has been freshman center fielder and leadoff hitter Trevor Johnson, who’s played in every game and started all but one of them. The Rye, N.Y., native is batting .316 with 11 RBIs and hasn’t committed an error. He’s the son of former Dartmouth quarterback and first baseman Mark Johnson, who captained coach Bob Whalen’s first Big Green team in 1990.
“The parents have done a terrific job of letting him have his own identity,” said Whalen, noting that Trevor Johnson’s mother, Jennifer, was a standout Dartmouth track athlete.
Following Johnson in the batting order are sophomore left fielder Matt Feinstein, junior second baseman Dustin Shirley and Ketchmark. The latter made an errant throw and flied out with two runners on base to end Dartmouth’s Rolfe Division playoff game at Yale last spring but said he’s moved on.
“At first I was just shocked that’s how our season ended,” said Ketchmark, whose squad failed to win the division for the first time in nine years.
“But I just parked those thoughts in a mental closet and said this is a new year. We can run over the Ivy League, but we have to do it one game at a time.”
Other regulars in the Dartmouth lineup include junior right fielder Kyle Holbrook, sophomore shortstop Nate Ostmo and senior catcher Adam Gauthier, who struggles to hit but led the team in walks last season. Third base has been a revolving door featuring junior Justin Fowler, freshman Blake Crossings and sophomore Steffen Torgersen.
“The way we’ve been playing has been a lot of fun and I think we have a pretty close team relative to years in the past,” said Ketchmark, the team’s lone captain. “We have to do in the Ivy season exactly what we did on the spring trip, just with more passion.”
Whalen, 556-527-1 during 27 years at Dartmouth’s helm, said he likes to book nonleague series to prepare his club for the condensed format of league play. This spring, the Big Green did that against Miami, Central Florida and The Citadel.
“When you get to crucial points of the season or a game, you bring forward in your mind similar situations you’ve had that year,” the coach said.
“How you’ve performed in those situations is what gives you confidence. I want our guys to remember that we’ve been been successful against excellent teams on the road.”
Notes: Dartmouth was 18-25 overall and 11-9 in league play last season. … Ketchmark’s online biography notes that the Texan “claims he can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute.” … Dartmouth lost six seniors after last season, including shortstop Thomas Roulis, center fielder Nick Ruppert, designated hitter Joe Purritano and pitcher Duncan Robinson, who was drafted in the ninth round by the Chicago Cubs. Robinson was 2-1 with a 4.19 ERA in 19⅓ innings with the Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds last summer. Ruppert has been playing in an Australian pro league. … Nonleague records for other Ivy teams as they enter Ancient Eight play: Brown (6-8), Columbia (3-13), Cornell (9-5), Harvard (10-8), Penn (9-9), Princeton (4-14) and Yale (9-10).
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.