The Dartmouth baseball team, currently vying for sole possession of first place in the Red Rolfe Division, has the opportunity to break away with a four game set against Yale this weekend.
"Doing all the little things right, we should take three of four. A best possible scenario would have us take three and Harvard split with Brown," said Brian Nickerson '00.
Yale, on a three game skid from a tough Harvard match last weekend, occupies the cellar in the Ivies with a 3-9 record. The Bulldog's record is no indication of the strength of their pitching staff though as they boast last week's Ivy co-pitcher of the Week Craig Breslow and strong right-hander Jon Steitz.
Breslow's one-hitter in Yale's one win over Harvard (a no-hitter into the seventh) saw him fan eleven batters. Breslow also leads Yale pitchers with a 2.45 ERA. Steitz tops the strikeout category with 51 in 36.2 innings.
"Our biggest concern is that good pitching always beats good hitting. If their guys are on, we could be looking at a 1-0 ballgame," said Nickerson.
Dartmouth will be looking to its hot bats to keep the momentum going this weekend. Ivy League Rookie of the Week Scott Shirrell '04, who was 7-15 with his sixth homer of the season last weekend (one shy of the Dartmouth rookie record), will continue his work from the lead-off spot.
Joe Rockers '01, who has adapted to a role of team leader from the dugout, came out of the DH spot to knock two doubles and a home run and go 5-14 last week.
Dartmouth will not only need its strong offense to spark against Yale's pitching, but they will need to maintain the consistent solid pitching performances that have characterized the last two weekends of Ivy play.
Larry Fey '02, who was on the Ivy League Honor Roll for hurling his fourth consecutive seven-inning four-hitter, will likely begin the weekend with freshman Tim Grant to follow.
Likely starters for the Sunday match-up are Pat Dowling '04 and John Velosky '02. Senior southpaw Jeff Dutremble remains on a pitch count while he recovers from an elbow injury and could see some work from the pen.
Dartmouth travels down to New Haven for two double-headers Saturday and Sunday, starting at noon.
