In their final preparation for the Ivy League season, the Big Green softball team dropped a pair of games to the University of Hartford on Wednesday. Dartmouth fell 7-4 in the opener and was then defeated 9-2 in the nightcap of the twilight doubleheader. The losses dropped the Big Green to 4-14-1 on the season as they prepare to head into league play starting today.
Dartmouth sent out its ace Christina Maybaum '98 in the first game to start the day off on the right foot, but the crafty senior struggled for the first time in her past three outings, giving up three runs in the first inning. That was two more runs than she had given up in her previous two starts. She settled down, only allowing four runs in four innings, but the damage had been done after the first stanza.
The Big Green were able to narrow the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Bess Tortolani '98 drilled a home run over the right field fence, scoring Carrie Hoverman '00 to bring Dartmouth to within two runs, 6-4. But the Big Green would not be able to get any closer as the Hawks added an insurance run in the seventh inning to win the first game, 7-4.
If the Big Green were counting on pitching to win the first, they decided to take the matter into their own hands in the second game. Still, Dartmouth's hit parade in the second game would not be enough to overcome Hartford's offensive machine.
Hartford once again bounced out to an early 3-0 lead before Dartmouth could plate its first run in the third inning to cut the lead to two runs. From there though, the Big Green could only add one more run while Hartford went on the offensive, plating six more runs to provide the final 9-2 deficit.
The Big Green now enter the homestretch of their schedule as they open Ivy League play this weekend against Brown and Yale at Sachem Field.
