Baseball Comes Up Short in Back-and-Forth Affair at Penn

Sunday, April 3

Philadelphia, Pa. / Meiklejohn Stadium

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

10-11, 3-3

Penn

16-8, 4-2

Dartmouth

Penn

Tyler Cox follows through with his swing against Brown, March 26, 2022

Sophomore Tyler Cox went 9-for-14 (.643) in the series to raise his average to .417 on the season.

Photo by: Doug Austin

Baseball Comes Up Short in Back-and-Forth Affair at Penn

4/3/2022 4:54:00 PM | Baseball

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Tyler Cox went 4-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs, but the Big Green lost to the Quakers, 10-9

By: Rick Bender

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — After tying the game with three runs in the eighth, Dartmouth could not complete the comeback as Penn's Jackson Appel hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom half to lift the host Quakers (16-8, 4-2 Ivy) to a 10-9 victory and squeak out the series win. Sophomore Tyler Cox was 4-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs to lead the Big Green (10-11, 3-3 Ivy).

Trailing 8-5 entering the top of the eighth, Dartmouth put the first two batters on base thanks to a pair of Penn errors. The Big Green quickly took advantage of the miscues as senior Bryce Daniel shot an RBI single to right and Cox followed with a line-drive down the line in right for a two-run double to tie the score. Dartmouth could not take the lead, however, leaving two runners on base.

In the bottom half, Appel led off the inning against junior reliever Jack Metzger (0-1), who had not given up a run over his last 11 innings. But Appel sent a 2-1 offering over the fence in left-center for his third home run of the series and fourth of the season, giving the Quakers a 9-8 lead. Wyatt Henseler followed with a double and came around to score eventually on a Craig Larsen sacrifice fly for what turned out to be a crucial insurance run.

Danny Heintz (1-1) struck out the first two batters in the ninth, but junior James House hit a pinch-hit, solo home run, his first of the year, to make it a one-run game once again. But with the count full against Daniel, Heintz was able to pump a third strike past him to end the game.

The game started well for the BIg Green as they took a 3-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by junior Connor Bertsch and Cox's first two-run double of the afternoon. But the Quakers got all three runs back in the third when starter Justin Murray issued a pair of walks, Ben Miller singled home two runs and Larsen ripped an RBI double off the base of the wall in right-center.

Murray helped his cause in the fourth by driving in a run on fielder's choice with the bases loaded, but he was replaced on the mound in the fourth after a walk and double put runners in scoring position with one down. Senior Cole Roland came in to put out the fire, and he did with a pair of strikeouts.

Cox hit an infield single and took second on a wild throw, then scored on sophomore Tyler Robinson's single to left for a 5-3 lead. But disaster struck in the bottom half with two gone. Roland looked like he would retire the side in order when strike three was smothered by the catcher, only for the ball to squirt away as he rose to his feet, allowing the batter to reach first. A single and a hit batter quickly loaded the bases and Miller unloaded them with a deep drive that cleared the fence in center field for a grand slam with all four runs unearned for a 7-5 Quaker advantage.

Penn added a solitary run in the seventh before Dartmouth rallied to tie the game.

Miller finished the game 2-for-4 with six RBIs, and Appel reached base four times with a single, homer and a pair of walks while scoring three times.

Daniel joined Cox with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs, and both teams collected 10 hits on the day.

Dartmouth will next play at UMass Lowell (8-16) on Tuesday at Lelacheur Park at 3 p.m.

Notes: Cox was 9-for-14 (.643) in the three games at Penn to lift his season average to .417, which leads the Ivy League … Dartmouth last won a series at Penn in 2009 … the Quakers took a 91-90-2 lead in the all-time series by taking two of three from the Big Green … the pinch-homer by House was the first for Dartmouth since Joe Purritano hit a two-run pinch-blast in a one-run loss to Yale on April 24, 2016.