The Dartmouth baseball team did not come home with what it was looking for in Providence this weekend, losing three of four games in two doubleheaders against Brown.
The weekend dropped the Big Green to 5-7 in the Ivy League and into the Red Rolfe Division cellar, if you can call it that.
At least the Big Green have a room of their own. Dartmouth is only one game out of first place in the division, behind Harvard, Brown and Yale, who all currently share a piece of the first place pie, at 6-6 on the year.
As far as co-Captain Jake Isler '96 was concerned, things could not have gone better for Dartmouth in the standings, considering its struggle with Brown.
"We're pretty lucky that it worked out that way, but we can't keep playing mathematical baseball. We have to go out there and win," Isler said.
"We didn't play badly all weekend," Head Coach Bob Whalen said. "We just didn't make the big pitch when we needed to and we didn't make the big play when we needed it."
With only eight division games remaining in the wide open race, the Big Green will host Yale in a crucial four game series next weekend. Dartmouth also travels to New Hampshire on Wednesday for a non-league match up.
Dartmouth 5, Brown 3
Brown 4, Dartmouth 3
Dartmouth split a pair of nail-biters against the Bears on Saturday, winning the opener and just falling short of a late inning rally in the nightcap.
In the opener, staff ace Eric Walania '98 pitched a complete game, five hitter en route to the 5-3 victory. Walania, with his third straight complete game win, kept his Ivy League record perfect at 3-0.
The score remained deadlocked at zero until the fifth inning when Dartmouth broke loose for four runs with four consecutive singles from the heart of its order; cleanup hitting Isler, Brian Mosley '98, Mike Armstrong '97 and Jimmy Meyer '97.
Dartmouth added another run in the sixth frame, and Walania took over from there, but not without a scare in the last half of the seventh.
Brown fought back with three quick runs in the inning, then looked poised for a comeback with runners on second and third, two outs and number five hitter Ron Kiino at the plate.
But Walania got the better of the right fielder, snagging a scorcher back at the mound to secure the victory.
In game two, the Big Green got another solid pitching effort from starter Matt Tarver-Wahlquist '98, who pitched the first four innings while allowing only two runs before giving way to reliever Chris Van Vliet '97.
With Dartmouth ahead 3-2 in the fifth, the left-hander hung a curve ball, and Ravi Malick, who had three home runs on the weekend for Brown, deposited the first of his long balls to give Brown a 4-3 lead.
This time, the Big Green were forced to do the late inning rallying. With one out, Craig Pawling '96 ripped what looked like a stand-up triple, until the ball slipped under the outfield fence, and Pawling was forced to go back to second.
Dartmouth loaded the bases with one out and its number three and four batters up. But Brown held on, throwing out a runner at home on an infield grounder, and snagging a long fly ball by Isler to end the game.
Brown 8, Dartmouth 3
Brown 10, Dartmouth 4
Dartmouth came out clawing on Sunday, but the Bears capitalized on their momentum from Saturday's nightcap to sweep the second set.
"I'm very pleased with their effort, no one hung their heads today," said Whalen on Sunday's games.
Staff veteran Scott Simon '97 took the loss in the opener, despite pitching a complete game and only allowing six hits. Andrew Spencer '97 went on a tear at the plate, with four hits and a triple in four at bats.
Brown jumped ahead early in the second game, with two runs in the second inning and five in the third, to hand starter Peter Sellers '98 and the Big Green their third loss of the weekend.
The Bears did the brunt of their early damage on two home runs in the pitcher friendly park.
"That place is always a jet stream," Whalen said.
Dartmouth, for its part, could not get anything to land in its favor, according to Whalen. "Spencer hit three laser beams in the second game and didn't have a hit to show for it," he said.
