Every year, most college teams can look over their season schedule and pencil in their share of easy wins.
Wednesday's game against St. Anselm was supposed to be one of those no-brainers for the Dartmouth baseball team.
But St. Anselm (5-12 overall), who lost to Dartmouth 18-5 last year and 12-5 two years ago, was not in the mood to be overlooked again, beating Dartmouth 9-6 on a cold Wednesday afternoon at Red Rolfe Field.
So much for a weekday tune-up.
The Big Green, coming off a see-saw weekend which saw them get swept by Pennsylvania on Saturday, then rebound with two dominating victories over Columbia on Monday, dropped back again against St. Anselm. They fell back 7-0 before they managed to put their first run on the board.
Dartmouth climbed back into shooting range in the fourth inning with four runs sparked by a double from Mike Armstrong '97. The Big Green notched a run apiece in the fifth and seventh frames, but St. Anselm kept the pace, tacking on two more runs of its own in the seventh.
Starter Bob Spillane '98 (0-2) got roughed up early and took the loss, allowing five earned runs on three hits and four walks in 1 1/3 innings.
Dartmouth, 4-4 in the Ivy's and in second place in the Red Rolfe division behind Harvard (5-3), takes on its first Red Rolfe rival this weekend, Brown (3-5).
The Big Green are slated for four games against the Bears on Saturday and Sunday in the crucial weekend series in Providence.
Last year, Dartmouth ravaged Brown's pitching staff, taking three of four games from the Bears at Red Rolfe Field.
In the three wins, Dartmouth compiled 25 runs while only allowing seven. Dartmouth also made use of the long ball in the series, with three tators off the bats of co-Captain Greg Gilmer '96, Craig Pawling '96 and Brian Mosley '98.
