Green Teams Movin' On

Watching the Dartmouth baseball team batter Florida International on ESPNU yesterday, 15-9, brought to mind the last time the Big Green won an NCAA Regional game. The Dartmouth first baseman in a 4-0 win over Michigan in a game played at Georgia Tech in 1987 was junior Mark Johnson, also the Big Green's starting quarterback.

Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates that spring, Johnson spurned the Bucs to return to Dartmouth and QB the Big Green again as a senior. He would graduate as Dartmouth's all-time leading passer with then-records of 4,413 yards and 389 completions.

Selected again by the Pirates after his senior season on the diamond, Johnson appeared in 428 big league games over seven seasons. In 1996 he hit 13 homers and batted .274 spending most of the season as the Pirates' starting first baseman.

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Dartmouth will take on Texas A&M today at noon on ESPNU in another NCAA elimination game. Should the Big Green survive, it will play again at 4 p.m. today.

The Miami Herald story on yesterday's game focuses, as you would expect, on FIU's Garrett Wittels stretching his hit streak to 56 games.

Dartmouth's official release on yesterday's win can be found here. It starts this way:

Junior Jason Brooks tied a career high with six RBIs, including a tie-breaking grand slam, and freshman Zack Bellenger crushed a pair of home runs to lead fourth-seeded Dartmouth past the third seed, FIU, in an elimination game at the NCAA Regional at Alex Rodriguez Park on Saturday, 15-9. The victory was the first in an NCAA Regional for the Big Green (27-18) in 23 years and the first for an Ivy League school since Princeton won a game in 2004.

The last time Dartmouth won a regional game was in 1987 when Mike Remlinger shut out Michigan in the first game of the Northeast Regional in Atlanta, 4-0.

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The Dartmouth team in the USA 7's Rugby Collegiate Championship also played before a live TV audience yesterday as its game against Cal was broadcast on NBC. Although the Big Green had a tough time with the Cal Juggernaut – dropping a 29-0 decision – Dartmouth advanced to today's action on the strength of a 19-5 win over Notre Dame Friday and a 38-5 thrashing of Harvard yesterday.

The Big Green squares off against San Diego State today at 12:30 in the quarterfinals. A win would bring another game at either 3 or 3:30 on NBC Universal, with the chamionship final at 5 p.m. on NBC. Former Dartmouth safety Pete Pidermann is on the Big Green squad. Find more information on the tournament here.

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As you may know, the Dartmouth football team will be playing Butler in Hanover in 2012 and then in Indianapolis the next fall. Work has started on improvements to the Butler Bowl, the football home of the Bulldogs that will host Dartmouth in 2013. Find photos shot this month of work being done on the Butler Bowl here.

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Dartmouth defensive lineman John Golio is a product of Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey. You don't think they take their football seriously down there? Check out a story in the Newark Star-Ledger.