It started with a trickle, no runs in the first inning, one in the second and two in the third. But by the time the Dartmouth nine finished with St. Anselms' pitching staff, it had become a flood.
Dartmouth hammered out 15 hits yesterday at Red Rolfe Field against the lowly Hawks, who had just recently broken out of a 16-game losing streak with two wins this past weekend.
Coach Robert Whalen was not overwhelmed by the margin of victory. "Whenever you play, its important to try to learn something or get something out of it," he said. "This is a great park to play in when you have a good day."
Designated hitter Travis Horton '96 recorded the first Dartmouth hit of the day in style, launching a 400-foot rainmaker deep over the Hawks' center fielder for a triple. Curtis Jones '95 then officially opened the offensive floodgates, knocking in Horton on a single to right field.
Horton, who had three hits on the day (along with Jake Isler '96 and Brian Mosley '98), got his second in the next inning, ripping a single through the left side to score two more runs, upping the score to a seemingly innocent 3-0.
Dartmouth then scored five more in the sixth, followed by an eight-run, six-hit seventh, marked by a three run, fence-clearing shot off the roof of Leverone Field House from Jones's bat.
Dartmouth then added two more for good measure in the eighth.
Young pitcher Bob Spillane '98 got the call from Whalen for his first collegiate start. Spillane, who had only pitched three innings prior to this point in the season, pitched impressively, lasting 4 2/3 innings while allowing only one run.
Whalen said he debated about taking Spillane out of the game before the third out of the fifth, which would have given him the required five innings needed to qualify for the victory.
The decision ended up being the right one though. "When I took him out he said he was gassed. Realistically, I was only looking for three or four innings out of him. I'm proud of him, he did a very good job in his first chance to start."
Scott Simon '97 replaced Spillane and recorded the victory, raising his record to 5-1. The Big Green improved to 13-16 on the season.
Diamond Notes
The University of New Hampshire travels to Red Rolfe Field today at 3:00 p.m. to take on the Big Green. UNH promises to be a tougher test for Dartmouth; it is the third highest ranked team in the New England area.
Co- Captain and leading hitter Todd Seneker '95 is currently day-to-day with an injured left shoulder.
Seneker will probably not play tomorrow against UNH, but Whalen is hoping "Senie" will be healthy in time for the final home games of his senior year, against Harvard Saturday at noon.
Left Fielder Craig Pawling made the Ivy League Honor Roll last weekend, going 4-10 with two runs and an RBI as Dartmouth split four games with Yale.
Dartmouth is still mathematically in the race for first place in the Red Rolfe division, barely. The team is three games back from Yale with four Ivy League games to go against the Harvard.
The Harvard Crimson (6-10 Ivy League, 9-18 overall), feature an oddity on their pitching staff. Ambidextrous senior pitcher Jamie Irving has been used as both a righty and lefty in back to back games before.
