The Dartmouth baseball team opened its Ivy League season somewhat unconvincingly as it dropped three of four games from Gehrig Division powerhouses Columbia and Pennsylvania this weekend.
Despite scoring 22 runs in the doubleheader against Columbia on Saturday, Dartmouth only managed to snatch one victory from the Lions at their home field.
Dartmouth lost the first in a 16-13 slug-fest, but squeaked out the second game thanks to clutch pitching from freshman starter Eric Walania (who registered his first collegiate victory), and a clutch three-run home run from designated hitter Travis Horton '96 in Dartmouth's final turn at the plate.
On Sunday, the Big Green bats fell silent against senior Pennsylvania pitchers Andrew Galles and Mike Shannon. Dartmouth managed only four hits as it lost the first game, 9-1. In the nightcap, Travis Farrel '98 pitched six strong innings to no avail, losing 2-0.
Coach Robert Whalen was nevertheless upbeat after the weekend. Whalen cited Penn's and Columbia's hefty March schedules for their edge over Dartmouth at this point of the season. "Those are two pretty good teams," Whalen said, and while he said he was not making any excuses for his players, he noted, "[Penn and Columbia] already played about 18 games this season."
As far as the strength of Dartmouth's mostly freshman pitching staff, Whalen said, "At the collegiate level, when you are expecting them to come in and win right away, that's awfully tough to do."
But Whalen added, "I think they will do that [soon]."
One of the few pitching bright spots of the weekend, starter Eric Walania '98 echoed his coach's sentiments.
"We're still confident and everyone is showing signs of improvement," Walania said. "It's still early."
Dartmouth, 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the Ivys, travels to face Lowell today for a 3:00 p.m. game.
