The Dartmouth baseball team clashed with Cornell, the most improved team in the Ivy League, yesterday at Red Rolfe Field, settling for a draw. The split doubleheader was an improvement over last year's contest, which Cornell swept, but it further damaged Dartmouth's chances of contending in its division.
Cornell 8, Dartmouth 4
The Big Green pitchers had a hard time controlling Cornell's offensive attack in the first game of the series. Cornell, 4-2 in the Ivies and fresh off a doubleheader sweep against Harvard Sunday, peppered five hits and six earned runs off starter Pete Sellers '98 in the first four innings.
The brunt of the Big Red attack occurred in a four-run third inning, which Dartmouth never recovered from.
In the fourth, Cornell's sluggers powered two home runs off Sellers to end his afternoon. The first round-tripper came off the bat of Cornell's leadoff batter in the inning. The second was a line drive two-run smash that cleared the fence with ample room, to put Cornell up 7-2.
Dartmouth scored two in the third on singles from Craig Pawling '96 and Andrew Spencer '97. In the sixth, Dartmouth mustered a final offensive effort, with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Simon Tripp '96 and a muffed play by the Big Red third baseman to score Todd Seneker '95 and Mike Armstrong '97.
But the runs were in vain, as Cornell shut down Dartmouth in the seventh to take the win.
Dartmouth 8, Cornell 6
Dartmouth came roaring back from the opening loss, scoring runs in each of the first three innings to secure the victory in the second game against the Big Red.
Four straight hits in the third inning marked the biggest offensive burst of the games. Jake Isler '96 ripped a double to score the first run of the inning. Travis Horton '97 hustled out an infield hit and knocked in a second, followed by a patented Seneker line drive to left, and a sacrifice fly by Mike Stacy '98.
The four-run inning put Dartmouth ahead for good, 8-4.
Dartmouth repelled Cornell's final breath of life in the fifth inning, behind strong pitching and airtight defense, to clinch the win.
After striking out the first batter of the fifth, starter Travis Farrel '98 tired, allowing the next four batters to reach base. Head Coach Bob Whalen pulled Farrel in favor of closer Dave Stefanowicz '97, to put out the Big Red fire.
Stefanowicz, back from a tough appearance in Sunday's game against Princeton, rebounded nicely as he escaped from the inning allowing only one run, which was credited to Farrel.
"I've had a few rough outings lately, so I was obviously happy with the outcome today," Stefanowicz said.
Stefanowicz then cruised through the final frames, allowing no runs and only one hit in the final 2 1/3 innings to record his second save of the season. Farrel, (1-2), got the first win of his Ivy League career in his second consecutive strong start for the Big Green.
