Dartmouth’s offense silenced

By rbrown
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: February 26, 2023

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Karson Ligon twirled seven shutout innings for 22nd-ranked Miami and got all the offense he needed in the second inning on a three-run homer off the bat of Dorian Gonzalez Jr. as the Hurricanes blanked the visiting Dartmouth Big Green, 6-0, on Saturday night at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Stadium. Miami clinched the series and won its sixth straight contest to improve to 6-1 on the season, while Dartmouth dropped to 0-2 as it was shut out for the first time in just over three years.

The Big Green managed six hits in the game, four of which came against Ligon. The lone batter to advance past first base in the first seven stanzas was senior Peter O’Toole on his one-out double in the seventh. Ligon (2-0) did not walk a batter and struck out six to earn the victory.

Senior right-hander Jack Metzger (0-1), and All-Ivy League reliever a year ago, matched Ligon by fanning six — a career high — in his first career start. After punching out two hitters in a scoreless first frame, he gave up a single on his first offering in the second. And when a double play grounder took a bad hop for an error, the Hurricanes took advantage as Gonalez launched a 2-1 fastball well over the fence in right-center for a sudden 3-0 lead.

Two more strikeouts in the third were followed by back-to-back triples by Dominic Pitelli and Edgardo Villegas in the fourth, leading to two more runs and a 5-0 Miami advantage. Metzger ended up yielding five runs, four earned, over five frames on eight hits but without a walk.

In the sixth, Carlos Perez greeted sophomore Joseph Chambers — making his collegiate debut — by depositing a 1-1 pitch over the scoreboard in left-center for his second round-tripper in as many days. The Hurricanes threatened to add more with a pair of one-out singles, but shortstop Tyler Cox snared a line drive and stepped on the bag at second for an unassisted double play.

Dartmouth had a chance to spoil the shutout against the Miami bullpen in the eighth as Cox and sophomore Elliot Krewson poked consecutive one-out base hits. But Carlos Lequerica settled down and retired the next two hitters to keep the Big Green off the board. He then proceeded to retire the side in order in the ninth to seal the Hurricane victory.

Perez finished a double shy of the cycle, scoring twice and driving in a run in three at-bats to lead Miami’s 12-hit attack.

Dartmouth will attempt to salvage a win in the three-game series in Saturday’s finale that begins at 1 p.m. The contest will be available to watch on ACC Network Extra.

Notes: Dartmouth is now 3-6 all-time against the Hurricanes … the last time the Big Green failed to score in a game was on Feb. 22, 2020 in a 3-0 loss to Chicago State … neither team issued a walk in the game … Cox extended his streak of reaching base safely to 33 games dating back to last season thanks to an infield hit in the eighth … the last Big Green player with a longer such streak was Mike Conway ’98 at 34 (last two games in 1997 and his first 32 in 1998) … Freeman had his streak of reaching safely end at 20 straight contests, going 0-for-3 on the night.

*******

Those who would like to help New Hampshire Hardball promote baseball in the Granite State can do so by purchasing a New Hampshire Hardball XTRA membership or by making a donation below. Sponsorship inquiries can be sent to nhhardball@gmail.com. Your support is greatly appreciated.