The eyes of the faithful are focused on Brown. The eyes of the team were focused on the Plymouth State Panthers.
Such is the state of Dartmouth baseball. While the fans eagerly await the results of the Brown vs. Cornell makeup which will decided the immediate fate of the Big Green, the team itself had to worry about the Panthers who rode into town having won six of their last seven.
In front of a small but dedicated crowd, Dartmouth easily handled their New Hampshire foe and received a great performance from David Lopez '03 en route to an 8-1 victory yesterday at Red Rolfe Field.
Lopez, a big southpaw, owned Plymouth State the first time around the order, retiring the first 10 hitters he faced on only 23 pitches. Six of those players grounded out and a pair of them fell victim to strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Dartmouth went to work on Panther starter Jeff Morgan early on. After a 1-2-3 first, Morgan gave up a leadoff single to Mike Mileusnic '03 in the second.
Joe Rockers '01 then smacked a fly down the left field line that sunk under the glove of a diving Rob Burr and ran to the wall giving Rockers an RBI triple. Next up was Chris Miranda '01 who grounded out to second base, scoring Rockers.
Morgan struck out Scott Shirrell '04 looking to end the Big Green threat but Dartmouth struck again in the third. Jason DaCosta '03 drilled the first pitch of the inning into left-centerfield for a triple and was scored on a slow roller to short by Mileusnic.
The Panthers broke up the no-hitter in the fourth on a double by Scott Hodson, but the 3-0 lead that Lopez had been staked to was all he would need. Dartmouth scored again in the bottom of the fourth to give Lopez a further cushion.
Derek Draper '02 led off the inning and coerced a full-count walk out of Morgan. After Eddie Lucas '03 lined out to right, Andrew Cronin '03 hit a fly down the right-field line that Jay Zinis could not grab with a dive.
The ball bounded into the corner to give the backup catcher an RBI triple and Dartmouth had a 4-0 lead. Cronin was in the lineup to give starting catcher Mike Levy '01 a rest after 37 innings of work behind the plate over the weekend.
Shirrell followed with his only hit of the day, a Texas league single into center which fell short of Matt Salokangas to score Cronin. Shirrell was then picked off first and Dacosta struck out swinging to retire the side.
Burr collected Plymouth State's second hit of the game in the top of the fifth with a line drive single to center, but Lopez retired the side again, this time striking out Richie Miller for the final out.
The Panthers brought in Morgan's younger brother Jay to catch in the bottom of the fifth, hoping to jump start his game, and it produced a 1-2-3 inning. The same did not hold true in the sixth as Dartmouth struck again.
Miranda and Draper opened the inning with singles to put runners on the corners with none out. After Lucas struck out looking on a great curveball, Cronin walked on four straight pitches to load the bases.
Shirrell hit a slow grounder to short on a 2-2 fastball, but beat out the double-play relay and Miranda scored for a 6-0 Dartmouth lead. Dacosta struck out swinging to end Morgan's day.
The Panthers finally got to Lopez in the top of the seventh. Matt Price ripped a 1-2 changeup to left for a double to lead off the inning.
A passed ball by Cronin allowed Price to move to third with no outs. He was brought home on a ground out by Zinis. Daniel Becker '02 made a great diving catch to rob Salokangas of a hit and Lopez struck out Burr to end the inning.
Dartmouth struck right back against Brad Wilby who took over for Morgan. After two quick outs, Rockers hit a blast to deep center that dropped just short of the 445-ft. sign.
Rockers motored around the bases for a stand-up triple. Miranda then took a 1-0 fastball very deep to left-center for a two-run homer into traffic on South Park Street.
The Big Green looked like they might build further on the 8-1 lead when Draper and Lucas smacked consecutive singles, but Cronin hit a grounder to Hodson at third who forced Lucas at second despite second baseman Jon Albertini appearing to come off the bag before catching the throw.
Lopez allowed three baserunners over the final two innings on a pair of walks and Hodson's third hit of the game, but stranded all of them as he completed his five-hit, one-run masterpiece. The complete game victory pushed his record to 3-1 on the season.
The final gem of the day came in the bottom of the eighth. With Becker on and two outs, Brian Nickerson '00 lashed a single into left field to pass James Little '00 and become Dartmouth's all-time leader in base hits.
Rockers and Draper led the hit parade with three apiece and Miranda added a pair as the Big Green rang up 15 hits including four triples.
The victory improves the Big Green to 19-16 overall this season. Dartmouth will head to Burlington, Vt., this afternoon to take on the Vermont Catamounts in their final non-league game.
Dartmouth will be focused on pounding UVM, but in the back of their minds they will be focused on the events in Providence, R.I., where Brown hosts Cornell.
Should Brown sweep, the playoff game will be held tomorrow. Should Dartmouth come away with the Red Rolfe Division title, the Ivy League Championship match-up against Princeton will begin here in Hanover at noon on Saturday.
