Dartmouth wins pitchers duel with New Bedford in baseball

NEW BEDFORD — Two great pitching efforts highlighted Dartmouth's 1-0 Southeast Conference baseball win over New Bedford on Saturday at Paul Walsh Field.

Sophomores Aiden Smith and Joe Castelo went head-to-head for seven crisp innings in a classic duel that ended with three-hitters for both hurlers in a game that took only one hour and 20 minutes to complete.

Smith, a right-hander who lives in New Bedford, but pitches for Dartmouth, notched six strikeouts and set the Whalers down in order in the second, fourth, and fifth innings. He retired 15 of the last 17 batters he faced and 52 of his 75 pitches went for strikes.

A left-hander, Castelo gave up a one-out run in the top of the first inning and went on to retire the next 20 batters he faced, including 1-2-3 outings in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. He finished with five strikeouts and settled down nicely after throwing 20 of his 80 pitches in the first inning.

Both pitchers were extra sharp and there were no walks on either side.

"I just tried to pound the zone and trust my defense," said Smith, who also plays basketball for Dartmouth "It was a close game and I had to stay focused. I had success with some early fastballs, but my slider was my go-to pitch. I had a good warmup session and I got more and more comfortable as the game went on."

Smith ran his record to 2-0 and Dartmouth coach Mike Frates was impressed with the way Smith carried himself on the mound.

"He was effective. He threw strikes and changed speeds," Frates said. "He's a very smart player who thinks about what he's doing out there. He made a lot of good pitches and we made the plays that we needed to make in a close game."

New Bedford coach John Seed said the pitching matchup was a sign of good things to come for both hurlers.

"They both threw the ball well and they both have a lot of potential. It's going to be fun watching them battle against each other the next couple of seasons," Seed said. "Aiden kept us off balance and he lived on the outside corner of the plate. Joe is coming along. He had a hip injury to start the season, and this was his third appearance on the mound. He settled down nicely after the first inning and got the job done the rest of the way against a good-hitting team."

Runs have been hard to come by for Dartmouth, which had plated only two runners in its last two games.

"We're not hitting the ball hard like we should be," Frates said. "We're still looking for that breakout game on offense."

WHAT IT MEANS: Dartmouth, which bounced back from a 4-1 conference loss to Bridgewater-Raynham on Wednesday, improved to 10-4 overall and 4-2 in the SEC. ... New Bedford, which was coming off a 4-3, nine-inning win over league-rival Brockton on Wednesday, dropped to 3-12 overall and 2-4 in the conference. ... Both teams return to action on Monday.  Dartmouth hosts North Attleboro and New Bedford plays at Bridgewater-Raynham,

HOW IT HAPPENED: Smith got Dartmouth started with a one-out double in the top of the first inning. Chase Lackie followed with a single to right field and sophomore right fielder Aiden Cruz knocked in what proved to be the game winner with a one-out single to left field.

STATS: Castelo, freshman right fielder Trevor Roderiques, who had the game-winning hit against Brockton on Wednesday, and senior third baseman Aaron Pimental finished with hits for New Bedford. ... The Whalers did not commit an error and they left four runners on base. ... Dartmouth, which committed a third-inning error that did not come back to bite them, left two runners on base.

NOTES: The win gave Dartmouth a regular-season win over the Whalers. Dartmouth notched a 6-4 victory in the teams' first meeting back on April 26.

DARTMOUTH 1, NEW BEDFORD 0

Dartmouth 100 000 0 — 1

New Bedford 000 000 0 — 0

WP: Aiden Smith (2-0); LP: Joel Castelo (0-3)

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Dartmouth baseball beats New Bedford for 2023 sweep