After a strong start to the season, the Dartmouth pitching staff got a rude awakening yesterday as they got battered for 10 runs and five homers in a 10-7 loss at Babson College. The loss ended the Big Green's win streak at nine games after the team had raced out to its best start in 40 years.
Babson wasted little time getting on the board as they scored three runs in the first inning, the most runs Dartmouth had given up in the opening inning all season. Dartmouth was able to respond with two runs of their own in the top of third to close the game to 3-2, but freshman starter Mark Swan ran into more trouble in the bottom half of the inning, giving up two runs as Babson extended the lead to 5-2.
The slow start has become a trademark for the Big Green this year, as they have tended to wake up in the middle innings and for the most part, it had been enough to gain the victory.
"In some of the games in Florida we really didn't start playing until the 4th or 5th inning, something we can't afford to do in the Ivies and it cost us against Babson," Conor Brooks '00 said.
Sure enough, the Big Green bats came alive the next three innings as Dartmouth added five runs in their following three at-bats, but it would not be enough as Babson countered with four more runs in the fourth and fifth inning, extending the lead to 9-5 entering the sixth inning.
Babson shortstop Eric Previte and third baseman Pete DiDomenico led the way for the home team, each homering twice off of the Big Green pitching staff. Right-fielder Yale Dieckmann '00 hit his first round-tripper of the year and center-fielder James Little '00 knocked in three runs for Dartmouth, who fell to 10-2 on the season. Second baseman Mike Conway '99 was another bright spot for the Big Green as he extended his hitting streak to 14 games with four hits on the afternoon.
Seven out of the nine Big Green hitters salvaged at least one hit with five players having multi-hit games. But it would not be enough as Swan was charged with the first loss of his young collegiate career while Jeff Lappen of Babson got his first win of the season after starting this year's campaign with an 0-3 record. Pete Sellers '98 also struggled on the day, giving up four earned runs in just two innings.
The Big Green travel back to Boston today when they face Tufts this afternoon.
