The resolve of the Dartmouth baseball team underwent its strongest test of the season yesterday in a doubleheader at Red Rolfe Field against Princeton, the team's home-opener..
Despite the less-than-ideal baseball weather, the team's silent bats and overly generous pitching, and a horrendous first few innings, the Big Green nine passed with relative success, splitting the two games.
Dartmouth 7, Princeton 8
In the opener, the Dartmouth nine showed a lot of heart as they rallied from an 8-1 deficit in the final innings of the game. It was too little, too late, however, as the Big Green finally fell to the Bulldogs, 8-7.
Despite the loss, junior Co-Captain Greg Gilmer was relieved. "We have been in a hitting slump the last couple of games," Gilmer said. "It felt real good to know our offense came back."
Down 8-1 in the last inning, Dartmouth came alive with an RBI singles from Simon Tripp '96, Gilmer, Andrew Spencer '97 and Jake Isler '96. A long sacrifice fly to deep center field from Brian Mosley '98 made the score 8-5.
That put runners at the corners and designated hitter Travis Horton '96, the tying runner, at the plate. Horton reached on a swinging bunt, scoring yet another run for the Big Green. Co-Captain Todd Seneker '95 then sent a sacrifice fly to center, shrinking the Princeton lead to 8-7.
Up came left fielder Curtis Jones '95 with two outs, a runner on first, and the game on the line. It was not to be this time, however, as a questionablycalled third strike slider on the outside corner caught Jones looking and ended the Dartmouth rally and the game.
Though the hard - fought loss was tough to swallow, Coach Robert Whalen saw the last inning as a turning point for the Big Green in the doubleheader.
Dartmouth 6, Princeton 5
The momentum turned in Dartmouth's favor for the second game of the doubleheader, though Princeton kept it interesting until the final out.
Already up 1-0 in the fourth, an uncharacteristic steal of second by Seneker set up a two-RBI single by shortstop Mike Armstrong '97, making the Dartmouth lead 3-0.
Seneker's steal, the first of his career, surprised everyone including himself. Seneker said slyly "It was a flat out steal. I'm really, uh, known for my blazing speed."Whalen added, "I promised Senie I'd get him a steal before he graduated."
After a wild pitch in the sixth, Dartmouth was ahead convincingly, 4-0, until Princeton's final turn at the plate in the seventh inning saw the game almost slip through Dartmouth's fingers.
Princeton scored five runs to tie the game in its final at bat on timely hits off closer David Stefanowicz '97, who replaced freshman phenom starter Eric Walania '98 in the sixth.
"I think we may have closed the book a bit early on them," Gilmer said on the Tiger comeback.
But Dartmouth refused to die in this game as well. Craig Pawling '97 started with a walk, followed by an Andrew Spencer single that put runners at the corners. Pawling scored on a wild pitch, which also sent Spencer to second. Up came Horton, who delivered a lined shot to right to score Spencer and win the game.
"It was definitely a game when we could have lied down. I was impressed with the guys and their professionalism," Gilmer said. "The most important thing we can take from this game is a sense of confidence."
Dartmouth, 6-10 on the season and 2-4 in the Ivy's, faces Cornell tomorrow at Red Rolfe Field at 12:00 for a doubleheader.
