With the Big Green Teams
As spring vacation began and Dart. mouth teams headed for their assorted destinations in the South, baseball coach Tony Lupien observed that if his 1969 edition could return with a breakeven record, things might be pretty interesting once the regular season began.
While the campaign has barely be- gun, it looks as if Lupien has called it fairly accurately. The southern swing ended with the Indians standing 5-6 (two games were cancelled) and after what seemed like an interminable hiatus while nature removed her wintry coat from Hanover, spring arrived (?) as the Green greeted Rochester with a 12-1 blistering on Chase Field.
The Eastern League season also began smartly for the Indians in Providence where Brown was made a 6-4 victim.
Lupien's credo for success in college baseball is to have good pitching. It looks as if he has it this spring. He also has some pretty good hitters and the Indians look like a tight fielding team with good speed.
Northern college baseball teams seldom produce winning records in the South because they invariably are coming from indoor practice to play teams that have been outdoors since late February. So when the Indians swept a doubleheader from Old Dominion to start their trek, the seeds of optimism were sown.
During the 10-day tour, Dartmouth won three of four games from Old Dominion and also pinned defeats on Rutgers and North Carolina State, an NCAA Tournament entry last year. The win at N. C. State was a 12-10 donnybrook that saw Dartmouth collect 16 hits and overtake State's 9-5 lead.
The regular season was to open at Holy Cross but rain ruled otherwise, so it was still under gray skies and chilling wind that Rochester came to Hanover on April 18. The Indians greeted the New Yorkers with 12 hits, including home runs by rightfielder Bruce Saylor and sophomore third baseman Craig Conklin, to roll to victory.
At Providence, home runs did much of the work as Conklin was joined by Terry Light, Bob Mlakar, and pitcher Chuck Seelbach in collecting fourbaggers before a two-run single by Saylor settled the 10-inning duel.
Conklin and sophomore Jim Chasey, who has switched positions with Bob Mlakar and is playing shortstop, have given Dartmouth a surprisingly strong left side in the infield. Mlakar, still feeling traces of his football leg injury, has won the second base job and has teamed nicely with Chasey as a double-play combination.
At first base is Light, the captain who was an outfielder but is one of Lupien's most versatile men (he's a capable lefthanded catcher)
The catcher is Jon Hanshus, a senior who has the steady ability of a veteran to handle Dartmouth's pitchers. His light hitting is offset by his knowledge behind the plate.
The outfielders are junior Bud Dagirmanjian, sophomore Tom Hanna, and Saylor, last year's leading hitter with a .371 average.
The mound staff is spiced with veterans and some new faces. Glen Culbertson, a senior, wasn't sharp against Rochester but still hurled a four-hitter and struck out ten batters. Seelbach a strong righthander with a good fastball, needed help after tiring in the ninth inning against Brown but should turn into the best pitcher on the staff.
Behind them are sophomores Jim Bell Bill Saumsiegle, Oz Griebel, and Ken Davidson plus junior Greg Pickering, the southpaw basketball captain who didn't make the southern trip but could turn into a key relief pitcher after posting a 5-3 record last spring.
"I have to be pleased with the results of the trip," said Lupien. "Our biggest problem will be to regain our momentum after the long layoff. If we get some steady pitching, it could turn into a very interesting spring."
Captain Terry Light, a .367 hitter lastyear, has been shifted from the outfieldto first base this season.
