FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
HANOVER, N.H. After dropping the first game to Columbia, the Dartmouth baseball team bounced back to force a deciding third game in the Ivy League Championship with a 16-15 win in the nightcap.
Dartmouth moves to 25-16 on the season, while Columbia is now 21-25 this year. The two teams combined to score 49 runs on 70 hits in both games. Columbia scored in double-digits in each game, winning game one 11-7 and putting 15 runs on the board in the second game.
Sophomore Nick Santomauro (North Caldwell, N.J.) had a career day with three homers, five runs batted and 13 total bases in the two games. He collected four hits and four runs scored as well. Classmate James Wren (Granbury, Texas) paced the Big Green with a 7-for-10 afternoon with a double, two RBI and three runs scored. Freshman Jeff Onstott (Houston, Texas) added five hits, two of which were doubles and two RBI, while senior Erik Bell (Sierra Madre, Calif.) forced home four runs and recorded three hits.
On the mound, senior co-captain Russell Young (Cleburne, Texas) went 7.2 innings and took the loss in game one as he fanned five. Senior Chase Carpenter (Bartlett, Tenn.) got the start in game two and went 5.1 innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits and striking out two. Freshman Ryan Smith (Greenlawn, N.Y.) earned the win in the nightcap with 1.2 frames of shutout ball.
In game one, Columbia took an early 3-2 lead of the first three innings, highlighted by a RBI double from Jason Banos and run scoring singles by Ron Williams and Mike Malfettone. Dartmouth got its two runs on senior co-captain Damon Wright’s (Dallas, Texas) ninth homer of the season and an RBI single from junior Michael Pagliarulo (Winchester, Mass.).
Dartmouth evened the score in the fourth as Bell singled home junior Johnathon Santopadre (Vacaville, Calif.), who collected three hits in game one, to make it 3-3.
The Lions then exploded for five runs in the fifth with Dean Forthun leading the way with a two-run single after Henry Perkins and Mike Roberts drove home runs with a double and a single, respectively. Columbia led 8-3. The Big Green got one back in the bottom of the inning on Santomauro’s first long ball of the afternoon to cut the lead to 8-4.
Columbia added three more in the final three innings, while Dartmouth made a game of it with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. However, Columbia was too much in the opener as the Lions took the 11-7 victory.
In game two, Dartmouth scored 16 runs on 18 hits as the visitor, while Columbia posted 15 runs on 17 hits.
Santomauro checked in where he left off in game one with his second round tripper in the top of the first, while Wren and senior Jason Blydell (Nahant, Mass.) singled home a run apiece to give the Big Green an early 3-0 lead. Columbia cut into the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 3-1 after one.
Dartmouth posted three more runs in the next two innings to increase the lead to 6-1, then the Lions got two back with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Williams.
The Big Green opened the game up with an eight-run top of the fifth as Santomauro connected on his third homer of the doubleheader and 10th of the season with a two-run shot to make it 8-3. Pagliarulo followed that with a solo shot of his own as Dartmouth went back-to-back for the first time this season. Blydell added a run scoring double, while Onstott singled home the eighth run of the frame to give Dartmouth a commanding 14-3 lead.
Columbia, however, would not go away. The Lions scored nine runs over the next two innings to cut the deficit to 14-12 with three innings remaining. The teams traded runs in the seventh inning with Dartmouth’s lone run coming on a balk, which was a very important run for the Big Green.
The Lions tied the game for the first time in the bottom of the eighth with two runs on an RBI single by Alex Ferrera and a sacrifice fly from Nick Cox to even the score at 15-15. Dartmouth fought back with a run in the top of the ninth as Wright singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, reached third on a Pagliarulo single and scored on a ground out to second base to give the Big Green a 16-15 advantage into the bottom of the ninth.
Smith, who entered in the eighth inning and made quick work of the Lions as he worked around a double to earn his second win. Dartmouth forced a third game as the Big Green held on for a 16-15 win.
The two teams will be meeting for the deciding third game tomorrow at 1 p.m. from Red Rolfe Field to crown a new Ivy League Champion.
