The rain and snow could only keep the Cornell Big Red from their sorry fate for so long. Dartmouth came out on top in both games of their doubleheader in Ithaca, N.Y., asserting their dominance early and often. The games were rescheduled for Wednesday after inclement weather cancelled the series two weekends ago.
Dartmouth (14-9, 6-2) shut down Cornell 8-1 in the first game and clinched the sweep with a victory of 13-6 over the struggling Big Red (4-21, 1-7).
Dartmouth came out swinging in the first inning, as Scott Shirrell '04 and Ed Lucas '04 both doubled, putting two runners in scoring position with one out. An infield hit by Jeff Speights '05 and a wild pitch made the score 2-0 after the first inning.
In the fourth inning, the Big Green offense added to the lead when Andrew Nacarioa '07 drove Marty Hebert '05 home with a single. Shirrell singled and Thomas Myette '06 was hit by a pitch, loading up the bases for Lucas. A sacrifice fly scored the run from third, and Speights came up to bat and drove in two more with a single.
Three runs in the top of the sixth nailed the door shut. Lucas, going 3-3 with a sacrifice fly, drove in two with a single and crossed the plate on a Josh Bailey '05 RBI double.
Tim Grant '04 proved he's the man to beat in Ivy League play, surrendering only a single run and sprinkling four hits and six strikeouts across a complete game. Grant improved to 3-2 overall, posting two of those victories in Ivy League play.
Grant said, "The biggest key to our wins yesterday was our great defense, despite the tough weather."
Again, Dartmouth crossed the plate first in the second game of the doubleheader. Seth Emery '06 drove in a run and scored in the second inning and the Big Green capitalized on an error by the Cornell third basemen, scoring two runs.
Another error by the Big Red third basemen would hurt Cornell in the third inning as Dartmouth scored four unearned runs in the inning. Lucas reached on the error and Speights followed with a single to center. Both runners remained aggressive on the basepaths with Lucas stealing third and Speights reaching second on an error by the catcher as Lucas crossed the plate.
Bailey walked to put runners at the corners for Chris Grimm '05, who tripled the two men in and later scored, lifting Dartmouth to a 7-0 lead. Lucas continued his hot streak with a home run to deep left field. Throughout the game, Dartmouth continued to terrorize the Cornell pitching staff, scoring three runs in the sixth and two in the ninth.
Freshman phenom Stephen Perry '07 pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits, registering two punchouts and earning his fourth win, a team-high. Perry is also 2-0 in league play.
When asked about his success on the hill, Perry said, "I really felt comfortable on the mound and was much more efficient with my pitches, which helped keep my pitch count down. Also, the infield turning double plays for me helped tremendously. I felt like my mechanics finally started to all come together and I felt very strong and relaxed on the hill."
In the doubleheader Lucas went 6-9, scoring four and driving in five runners and improved his batting average to .485, which leads the Ivy League in batting.
Lucas noted the mental focus that the team brought to the away games, saying, "With such uncertainty with the weather and having to make a 6 hour one way bus trip in the middle of the week, it was great to see how ready we were to play."
Since returning from their spring break trip to Florida, Dartmouth has gone 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the Ivy League. Captain Grant attributes the team's improvement to a greater sense of confidence, especially defensively and with the pitching staff. He hopes the team's confidence will continue as they face division rivals, Brown, this weekend.
"This weekend at Brown is huge as we move into our own division where all four teams are very much still in the hunt for the Red Rolfe title," Grant said.
"I feel very confident about the upcoming weekend and I know that we will do everything we can to win," Perry added. "The only thing we can do is take it one game at a time and play like we've been playing and we'll do well."
The Big Green will play two doubleheaders in Providence this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Both doubleheaders will start at noon.
