When it mattered most, the Dartmouth baseball team got the job done this weekend, grabbing three of four games and, in the process, crushing the title hopes of Red Rolfe Division favorite and three-time champion Yale.
When it mattered most, pitching, possibly the team's biggest question mark, hurled four near-flawless complete games against the Elis, allowing only six runs in 28 innings.
And when it mattered most, the Big Green made the big play at the plate and in the field, vaulting them into a two-team race with Harvard for this year's Red Rolfe Division Title.
"We had to do it," starting pitcher Matt Tarver-Wahlquist '98 said. "We finally showed that we can step up and play the big games."
"I'm proud to be a member of this staff ... We came in with a lot more confidence than we have in the past, and we knew we could play with them," staff veteran Scott Simon '97 said.
"This clearly puts us back in the race," Head Coach Bob Whalen said. "Its tough to beat any team four times in a weekend, especially when the team is picked to finish first in the league."
Key to the series was the destruction of the Ivy League's top hitter, Dan Thompson, last week's ECAC and Ivy League Player of the Week. Thompson, who leads the league in four categories including batting average and RBI, swatted a hefty .529 with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 RBI's last week.
But against Dartmouth, Thompson could not swat a fly, managing only one hit, a single, in 11 at bats.
"Our pitchers really stepped up and showed us they could do the job," Andrew Spencer '97, who led the Big Green at the plate, said. Spencer lit up the Eli pitching staff with a .455 average, two RBI's, two doubles and a pair of stolen bases in 11 at bats.
Dartmouth, now 8-8 in the Ivies, has only one more task ahead of itself. The Big Green must win three of four games against the division-leading Harvard Crimson (10-6) in away and home doubleheaders next Saturday and Sunday, to win their first-ever Red Rolfe Division pennant.
"It's the first time that the last weekend of the season has really had meaning for us. We're just going to go out there and play with the same intensity that we had today. We're ready." Spencer said.
Dartmouth 6, Yale 3
Straight off two come-from-behind victories earlier in the week against UNH and Tufts, Dartmouth took a gutsy performance by starter Scott Simon '97 and made it three in a row, with a comeback 6-3 win in the opener.
Simon threw "beads" all afternoon for his first Ivy win of the year, with four strikeouts and no walks in his fourth straight complete game.
"It felt like I hadn't been doing my part for the team for a while, so it felt really good to finally pitch a good game," Simon said.
Down 2-0 in the fifth with one out, Jimmy Meyer '97 broke a one hitter by Yale's Eric Gutshall with a hard line drive double to right-center field.
Stocky catcher Mike Stacy '98 next strolled to the plate, and on the second offering from Gutshall, Stacy launched a towering rainmaker just inside and over the left field foul pole, tying the game at two.
Yale responded with a run in the sixth off Simon to retake the lead, but only for a heartbeat, as the Big Green unleashed five consecutive base hits from the heart of their order to regain control.
Ron Friedman '99 led off with a first-pitch single up the middle, followed by an infield single by Spencer and a liner to left by Jake Isler '96 to load the bases. Up came Mike Armstrong '97, who smoked a two-run double to the gap in right center. Brian Mosley '98 added the icing, with a long single to left field scoring two more.
Simon sealed up his gem after that, pumping his fists after punching out Yale's last batter in the top of the seventh to close the victory.
Dartmouth 5, Yale 0
The towering Big Green southpaw they call "Tee-Dub" tossed a goose egg in the nightcap, allowing no runs on three skimpy singles and two walks, to lead the Big Green to a 5-0 wallop.
"Tee-Dub," a.k.a. Matt Tarver-Wahlquist '98, who has improved in leaps and bounds in every time out this year, spotted his heater at will while dropping in an occasional wicked deuce and friction ball to keep the Eli nine crossed-eyed all afternoon.
"I spotted my fastball really well but the key was my changeup. It was really working for the first time all season," Tarver-Wahlquist said.
On offense, leadoff hitter and co-Captain Greg Gilmer '96 ignited all three Big Green rallies in the first, third and fifth frames with two hits and a base on an error.
In the first, Gilmer's single set up a double by Spencer to hand Dartmouth an early 1-0 lead. Dartmouth added three more in the third after Gilmer reached and Friedman walked, giving way to Spencer who doubled for the second time. A sacrifice fly by Armstrong after a single by Isler scored Spencer for the fourth tally.
Dartmouth was four feet from a grand slam in the fifth inning, when Armstrong stroked a bases-loaded drive that an Eli right fielder caught with his back against the fence. Gilmer tagged up and scored on the play for the fifth run.
Dartmouth 2, Yale 1
In perhaps a sign of changing times in the Ivy Leagues, Dartmouth's young pitching ace, Eric Walania '98, took the mound against one of the best in the Ivies, senior Yale captain and starting pitcher Dan Thompson.
Walania won.
The tall righty, who in his two years as a Big Green pitcher holds a perfect 8-0 Ivy record, beat the Eli by scattering six hits, a walk and one earned run, coming in the first inning, over seven frames.
The Big Green, who managed only three hits against Thompson, had to manufacture their two runs in the third inning.
Craig Pawling '96 started it off, hustling to first on a throwing error from short. Two outs later, Andrew Spencer reached on an error at second to bring Pawling around to score. Spencer then reeked havoc on the base paths, stealing second and then third, and then trotting home after eliciting a throwing error by the catcher to give Dartmouth its second run.
Dartmouth 0, Yale 2
Dartmouth steam-rolled into the nightcap looking for the elusive four-game sweep, but Eli hurler Mike Finnegan threw up a wall, allowing only five total base runners in the face-saving win.
Dartmouth threatened in the sixth when Pawling lined a hard shot to right with one out. Gilmer then wrapped a slicing double down the right field line to put runners at second and third, but Dartmouth's next two batters grounded out to end the inning.
Right-handed starter Pete Sellers '98 was the hard luck loser, despite pitching a complete game six-hitter.
Dartmouth's loss in the final game does not hurt its chances for the Red Rolfe Title, according to Simon. "With the fourth game, whether we won or lost probably wasn't as important," Simon said. "We can still control our own destiny. We are still going to have to take three of four from Harvard next weekend.
