The Big Green softball team was devastated by Princeton during a doubleheader Saturday but managed to pick up the pieces by Sunday to win one of the two games against Fairfield.
Dartmouth is now 5-21 overall and 0-6 for the Ivy League.
Two-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton played almost flawless games against Dartmouth, winning with two shutouts.
The Tigers posted a 16-0 win in the first game followed by a 8-0 win in the second game.
Princeton improved to 4-0 in the Ivy League.
In the first game, the first of two hits was in the fourth inning when Jane Peachy '99 broke up a no-hitter with a single. On the mound, Erin Rath '98 took the loss for Dartmouth.
The second game was similar as the Big Green only got two hits, and the Tigers racked up an easy 8-0 win. Raili Cook '98 was the losing pitcher for the Big Green.
"We obviously did not play well, but it was tough," Captain Karen Hersey '96 said. "Last year they were nationally ranked. We have a very young team."
"If we had played out the game, we should have done a lot better than we did," she added.
Hersey also commented on Princeton's strong pitching core, saying, "It was ranked very high in the nation."
The Big Green split a pair of games with Fairfield University in Connecticut during a doubleheader on Sunday. They lost the first game 6-1 before taking the second game 4-2.
The Big Green scored an early run in the first game when Peachy was singled home by Gretchen Saegh '99 but were unable to earn any more runs.
"The first game was tough because they were definitely a team we could beat," Hersey said. "They hit well but we could not push the runs across the plate that game. We showed a lot of character. But after a tough weekend, we regrouped."
The second game was far more impressive on the Dartmouth side. The Big Green scored in the first, third, fourth and sixth innings to get the victory.
Rath pitched a perfect game for four innings and a hitless ball through five and a half innings. Rath allowed only two hits and struck out two Fairfield batters.
Hersey singled out special praise for Rath's pitching prowess.
"It was the best pitching from Erin Rath," Hersey said. "It's the best I've seen her pitch."
"We could have easily called it a weekend after the disappointments we already had but we played really well and played together as a team to pull off a win," she said. "There are four more Ivy games and I hope to carry on the momentum."
