Coming off a depressing sweep at the hands of Harvard, Dartmouth's softball team was pitted against UMass-Lowell in a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Big Green's offense came alive after its temporary coma and swept the Riverhawks.
In game one, the Big Green jumped on UMass early, grabbing a 3-0 lead after two innings of play. Sarah Damon '02, Kristin King '02 and Jenny Harsey '01 all crossed the plate for Dartmouth to give them the lead.
The Big Green continued to add to their lead in the bottom of the fourth with a five-run rally. Damon, Chiara Grabill '01 and King all had RBI singles to pace the attack.
The Riverhawks struck back over the next two innings, scoring four runs off of starter Danica Giugliano '04, although only one was earned. Carrie Hoverman '01 added an RBI single in the bottom of the firth to cap off the 9-4 win.
Hoverman, Damon and King all were 3-4 in the game while Grabill and Harsey had two hits each as the Big Green banged out a season high 15 base knocks.
Giugliano threw a complete game victory, allowing nine hits and the single earned run while striking out three and walking one.
Following Giugliano's outstanding performance was Lisa Caruso '04 who threw four perfect innings to open the back half of the twinbill. While Caruso was mowing down the UMass-Lowell hitters, Dartmouth was staking her to a 6-0 lead.
Dartmouth grabbed its first three runs in the opening frame, as Hoverman and Grabill had RBI doubles and Cherie Comeau '02 grounded into a fielder's choice to score the other run. Comeau added an RBI single in the third inning, scoring Harsey.
In the bottom of the fourth, Grabill added a two-out, two-RBI single to score Damon and Hoverman, pushing the Big Green advantage to six. The Riverhawks struck back against Caruso in the top of the fifth, however, scoring five runs off the freshman hurler, though only two of them were earned.
Brittany Copenhaver '04 came on in relief and shut UMass-Lowell down in the sixth and seventh to preserve the victory for Dartmouth and Caruso. Copenhaver allowed only one hit over 2.1 innings to record the save.
Hoverman again was 3-4 while Grabill had two hits and three RBI to lead the resurgent Dartmouth offense.
The 6-5 victory improved Dartmouth's record to 19-17 overall while dropping the River Hawks' record to 23-22 on the season. Dartmouth concludes its regular season against Central Connecticut tomorrow at Sachem Field, where the Big Green will honor its fours seniors " Grabill, Harsey, Hoverman and Erica Morgenstein. The doubleheader will begin at 3:30 p.m.
