Two come-from-behind wins marked the Dartmouth baseball team's first games of the 2004 spring season this weekend.
After a busy winter training in Leverone Field House, the team hoped to prove themselves at University Field in three games against the Hofstra Pride. Saturday afternoon in the season opener, the Big Green defeated the Pride 8-5, coming from behind in the seventh inning to take the lead after a 4-1 deficit in the fifth inning.
In a doubleheader on Sunday, the Big Green split with the Pride, taking the second game 14-8 after falling short in the first game 10-7.
Looking forward to playing outside for the first time this year, the Big Green faced a two-hour rain delay in Hampstead, N.Y. In Saturday's game, the Big Green offense failed to provide early run support for starting pitcher co-captain Pat Dowling '04 and came into the sixth inning hoping to spark their offense. With the bases loaded, Dartmouth took advantage of two pitching errors as Brian Zurhellen '05 took home on a wild pitch and Seth Emery '06 scored after a balk, cutting Hofstra's lead to 4-3.
After a 15-minute rain delay in the seventh inning, Hofstra's errors came back to haunt them as Emery's groundout tied the score at 4-4 and Zurhellen and Jeff Speights '05 scored on an error to take the lead at 6-4. Dartmouth scored three runs in the seventh without a hit.
In the bottom of the seventh, Hofstra cut the lead to 6-5, and pitcher Mike Madson '05 forced Hofstra's Mackie Root to popout to short with the bases loaded. Dartmouth added two more runs in the eighth and ninth for a final score of 8-5.
Madson picked up the win, giving up only one run in three innings of relief, and Nick Peay '05 pitched a perfect ninth inning for the save.
Losing on their home field the day before, the Pride roared back in Sunday's first game, roughing up co-captain Tim Grant '04 for an 8-0 lead through four innings. The Big Green fought to come back within striking distance with home runs by Josh Bailey '05, Ed Lucas '04 and Emery cutting the Pride's lead to 8-7 in the top of the eighth. The Pride added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth and went on to win 10-7.
The second game also saw the Big Green fall behind early in the game. The Pride hit up starter Josh Faiola '06, posting six runs in three innings. Big Green offensive production ran rampant in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings, however, leading Dartmouth to win the series.
In the fourth inning, Bailey ignited the offense with a three-run double, setting the stage for Andrew Nacario '07, Will Bashelor '07 and Scott Shirrell '04 to hit RBI doubles to tie up the score at 6-6.
Bailey, still smoking from the fourth inning, lifted the Big Green to their first lead of the day with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, pacing the team to score five more runs in the top of the eighth for a final score of 14-8.
Steve Perry '07 picked up his first collegiate win after pitching four innings in relief. Perry had four strikeouts and gave up only two runs while on the mound.
Ever modest about his accomplishment from the weekend, Perry noted that his team's offensive performance allowed him to focus on his own game, without worrying about run support.
"Getting my first college win was a huge accomplishment for me, but without the support that I got both defensively and offensively, it would have been much harder to attain," Perry said.
Bailey and Lucas both dominated at the plate on Sunday. Bailey went 4-for-9, scoring four runs and driving in six with two home-runs in the two games. Lucas was 6-for-10 with four runs scored and two RBIs in the double-header.
Zurhellen played strongly throughout the weekend, going 7-for-14 with six runs scored and an RBI in the series.
The weekend's results highlight the team's smooth transition to playing outdoors.
"We work on as many things as possible indoors, but there's really no substitute for getting outside and playing games," Shirrell said. "We were able to work on parts of our game that are limited indoors, and, most importantly, we were able to pick up a couple of victories."
Lucas looked at the fighting spirit that the team exhibited on University Field with hopes of its positive impact on the 2004 season.
"We know there aren't many teams out there that can match our starting pitching, so if we continue to hit, play better defense and battle all year like we did coming from behind this weekend, there might be good things to come," he said.
And the team hopes that one of those good things to come at the end of the season comes in the form of a championship.
"I think everyone realizes that this is just the first of many steps we are taking toward our primary goal of winning the Ivy League Championship," Bailey asserted.
Winning this series also sets the tone for the team's training trip to Bradenton, Fla., where they will face eight teams in the course of 10 days.
