New Hampshire Hardball

Dartmouth loses slugfest

CARY, N.C. — The Dartmouth baseball team jumped out to a 7-2 lead after two innings, but Wagner rallied for eight runs in the third and went on to defeat the Big Green on Friday afternoon at the USA Baseball Complex, 19-13. Both first basemen — Griffin Selby for the Seahawks (4-3) and Max Zajec for the Big Green (0-4) — had five RBIs to pace the offenses.

Dartmouth collected 14 hits, led by sophomore Elliot Krewson who matched a career high with three hits, and junior Tyler Robinson swatted two of the Big Green’s six doubles on the day, scoring four times. But those numbers were no match for Wagner’s 23 base hits, four apiece for lead-off hitter Maimu Kobayashi and Selby, the latter producing a double and his first home run of the season.

For the third time in their four games on the young season, the Big Green jumped out to an early lead. Junior Nathan Cmeyla started the scoring in a four-run first with an RBI double, and senior Kolton Freeman capped it with one of his own.

The Seahawks scratched out a pair of runs in the second on RBI singles by Ariv Camacho and Kobayashi, only to have Dartmouth answer back with three in its half. Again Cmeyla drove in a run, this time with a sacrifice fly, and Zajec followed with a two-run single for the 7-2 advantage.

But nothing would go right for Big Green starter Trystan Sarcone (0-2) in the third as the first six Wagner hitters reached base on three singles, two doubles and a throwing error. After a sacrifice bunt, another RBI single off the bat of Kobayashi and a hit batter, Sarcone’s day on the mound was done. The Seahawks greeted reliever Shane Bauer with two more RBI singles giving them a sudden 10-7 lead they would not relinquish.

Dartmouth put another run on the board in the third when freshman Ivan Hoyt dribbled an RBI single through the right side for his first collegiate hit. And after Wagner added two more runs in the fourth, one on Selby’s long ball, the Big Green matched the total as Robinson doubled and scored on an error, and Krewson lined a single to score another run, making it a 12-10 ball game.

The Seahawks would not relent, however, adding two runs in the fifth, three more in the sixth and solitary tallies in the seventh and eighth. The second half of the game got a little sloppy with five of the final eight combined runs being unearned. Both teams committed four errors and hit a total of seven batters, four by Big Green pitchers.

Will Saxenmeyer (1-0) was credited with the win for Wagner despite yielding three runs in one inning of work. Eric Crouse was the most effective Seahawk pitcher, giving up two unearned runs over four frames.

Dartmouth will play two games Saturday, the first at 11 a.m. against Holy Cross (1-7) and the second versus Penn State (4-2) at 2 p.m. Both games will be available to watch live on USABaseball.tv; viewers simply need to sign up for a free account to watch the contests.

*******

Notes: The Big Green has allowed 39 runs in its last two games, the largest total in consecutive games since 1896. … Dartmouth is 0-4 to start a season for the first time in seven years. … the Big Green had not lost when scoring 10 or more runs since the longest game in program history, a 21-15 defeat in 21 innings against Penn in 2019. … Robinson’s two doubles were the first two of his career after hitting five triples and a home run last season. … Hoyt, a wide receiver on the football team, not only went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI in his collegiate debut on the diamond, he also pitched a perfect ninth, needing just five pitches to retire the side.

*******

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.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login