With their minds focused on the upcoming battle with Harvard, the Big Green of Dartmouth battled with non-league foe Vermont at Sachem Field yesterday afternoon. Despite a renewed offense in game two, the Big Green fell to split the doubleheader and bring its overall record to 17-15.
In the first game, Danica Giugliano '04 hurled a gorgeous complete game six-hitter to lead Dartmouth to a 2-1 victory. Giugliano allowed only one run, which was unearned in her seven innings of work with only Jamie Dawson proving a thorn in the freshman's side, going 2-2 with a walk.
Dartmouth scored in the second inning when Kisa Brannen '03 scored on a wild pitch by Catamount starter Cheri Toms. Sarah Damon '02 added a fifth inning home run to give Giugliano all the insurance she would need.
The Big Green managed only eight hits off of Toms, with Damon, Cherie Comeau '02, Carrie Hoverman '01 and Jenny Harsey '01 each collecting a pair. The second game began in front of the meager 50-person crowd and proved to be vastly more exciting to watch and packed just as intense an ending.
The Catamounts opened the second game by pounding on Brittany Copenhaver '04 to the tune of seven runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings. Dawson smacked a two-run shot in the fourth to help key the early surge.
Lisa Caruso '04 came on to stem the tide in the fourth before stepping aside to see her teammates put together an offensive explosion. In the bottom half of the inning, the Big Green lit up starter Kara Massey and her replacement Angie Totaro by way of 10 hits and nine runs.
Kristin King '02 blasted a grand slam to right-center with one out and Hoverman added a two-RBI double to spark the rally. After a scoreless fifth inning, the teams traded runs in the sixth to bring the tally to 10-8.
In the top of the seventh, the Catamounts rallied against Caruso, who was harmed by an error by King, and Maggie Tiernan nailed a two-out double to score a pair, completing Vermont's 11-10 comeback win. Caruso pitched her way out of further damage.
"I actually thought I was pitching pretty good. My ball was popping more than it was popping in the Yale and Brown games. I think they hit some really good pitches and strung together hit after hit," said Caruso.
Totaro shut down the Big Green in the bottom half of the seventh to seal the deal. The loss dropped Caruso to 7-3 on the season.
Shoddy defense hurt Dartmouth in the game as four errors led to a pair of unearned runs which easily could have been avoided. Brannen and was a leading culprit booting a pair at third base while King made two of her own miscues at shortstop.
Hoverman led the attack with a 3-5 day while Adrienne Draper '04, Harsey and Chiara Grabill '01 added two hits each. Dawson and Tieman were the heroes for the Catamounts, with Dawson going 4-5 with two runs scored and two RBI while Tieman was 3-4 with three RBI.
The offensive output is important as the team gets ready to play the Crimson, with a share of the Ivy League Championship in the balance. A sweep at Harvard will vault Dartmouth into a tie with Cornell atop the league.
"What lacked these past couple of weekends was clutch hitting and I think we all proved to ourselves that we are capable of coming out on top when we are behind. We scored 9 runs in one inning, and a bunch of those runs and hits were produced with two outs. That is what Dartmouth Softball is all about," said Damon.
