Dartmouth Baseball Boasts a Big Green Hitting Machine

This weekend the Columbia baseball team will square off against Dartmouth in a best-of-three series to determine this year’s Ivy League champion. The Big Green earned home-field advantage by winning the tiebreaker against the Lions with a sweep over the league’s third-place team, the Princeton Tigers.

The Big Green wrapped up the regular season 24-15 overall and won the Red Rolfe Division with a 15-5 record against its Ivy League opponents. It won three games against both Brown and Harvard and split a four-game match against Yale to compile an 8-4 record against its divisional foes. Dartmouth also posted impressive nonconference wins against Army, Navy, and Northwestern.

In order for the Lions to be successful, they must keep the Big Green from scoring the seven runs per game that it averaged in the regular season. That will be easier said than done, as Dartmouth tied with Brown for the highest batting average (.319) in the Ancient Eight and led the conference in several offensive categories including home runs (32), on-base percentage (.419), slugging percentage (.465), and RBI (263).

Individually, the Big Green has seven players with at least 100 at-bats who are hitting over .300. It is led by outfielder Damon Wright, who has hit eight home runs and 37 RBI for an overall .400 batting average. The Dallas native also has a team-high six stolen bases this season. Not to be outdone, outfielder Nick Santomauro hit .362, with seven home runs and 37 RBI of his own. The sophomore also scored a team-high 39 runs this year.

Dartmouth’s pitching isn’t far behind its prolific offense, either. The team’s staff finished third in the Ivy League with a 5.74 ERA, leading the league with 24 wins and tying Columbia with seven saves.

Senior captain Russell Young is the ace of the Big Green staff, posting a 5-3 record in eight appearances. The southpaw from Cleburne, Texas posted a 3.43 ERA in 57 2/3 innings with 50 strikeouts. His younger brother, Robert Young, threw 54 1/3 innings with 38 strikeouts in nine appearances.

Right-hander Chase Carpenter finished the regular season with a 4.94 ERA, going 5-2 with 50 2/3 innings pitched in eight appearances. Freshman pitcher Ryan Smith led the staff with 17 appearances in his first year with the team. The right-hander from Greenlawn, N.Y. posted a 2.32 ERA in 38 innings pitched while holding opponents to a .278 batting average.

Defensively, Dartmouth was the best team in the Ivy League during the regular season, boasting a .963 fielding percentage. The Big Green turned 41 double plays, committing just 53 errors and allowing only 38 stolen bases behind Columbia’s 25.

Dartmouth lost to Boston College 8-5 at home on Wednesday in its final regular season game before it plays the Lions for the Ivy League championship this weekend. The stakes are high—a berth in the NCAA College World Series is on the line.