The Dartmouth baseball team split two midweek games against non-conference opponents Vermont and Holy Cross. The Big Green (18-11 overall, 9-3 Ivy) beat Vermont in a crushing 17-8 victory in Burlington, Vt. Despite the electricity generated in Tuesday's game, they lost at home on Wednesday to Holy Cross with a score of 7-2. The Big Green leads the Red Rolfe division of the Ivy League with a one game margin over Harvard and Yale.
The Big Green set the pace early with four runs scored in the first inning. Ed Lucas '04, entering the game with the highest batting average in the nation, drove in Scott Shirrell '04 with a double. Jeff Speights '05 followed suit with a two run single. Later in the inning, Josh Bailey '05 drove in Dartmouth's fourth run.
Vermont scored two runs off of starter Jeff Wilkerson '07 in the bottom of the first. Wilkerson set Dartmouth up for the win, giving up seven hits and four runs over six innings and garnering his first collegiate victory.
The Dartmouth offense scored four more runs in the second to give the Big Green an 8-2 lead. With the bases loaded, Lucas singled in Will Bashelor '07 and Shirrell scored on an error by Vermont's right fielder. Seth Emery '06 drove in Lucas with a single and Patrick Nailer '04 plated Speights with a double. Shirrell made the score 10-3 with a two-run double in the fifth.
The Vermont bullpen faltered under the pressure of the Big Green bats in the final three innings of the game. In the seventh inning, Shirrell drove in two more, making the score 12-4 and Andrew Nacario '07 drove in a run with a single.
Vermont tried to stage a comeback in the bottom of the seventh with a four run rally, but Dartmouth scored four more in the last two innings for a final score of 17-8. Chris LaPointe '06 pitched the last three innings for Dartmouth and earned his first save of the season and second in his college career.
On Wednesday, Holy Cross starter Rob Oteri challenged the Dartmouth line-up, allowing only five hits and two runs over nine innings.
Dartmouth scored their first run in the bottom of the first when Lucas hit into a double play with men on first and third and drove in a run. This frustration at the plate characterized the game for the Big Green. Oteri only gave up one more hit until the ninth inning.
Dartmouth starter Bobby Steinsdoerfer '07 gave up a bases loaded walk for Holy Cross' first run and they took a 2-1 lead on an RBI groundout.
The score remained close until the sixth inning when Holy Cross scored another run and Coach Whalen pulled Steinsdoerfer out. He left the game, having recorded six strikeouts and allowing only one earned run in 5.2 innings.
Holy Cross scored again in the seventh and Dartmouth tried to steal the lead with the bases loaded and one out. Marty Hebert '05 drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, but Nailer struck out to the end the inning.
Holy Cross scored two more runs off of Mike Madson '05 in the eighth inning and Nick Peay '05 gave up a run in the ninth.
Shirrell, with two hits and a run scored on the day, is within five hits of tying the school record.
Despite the loss, the Big Green celebrated captain Tim Grant '04's honors as Ivy League pitcher of the week. Grant pitched two complete games for wins last week against Cornell and Brown. He improved his record to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League, lowering his ERA to 4.61.
Confident heading to the weekend, Lucas said "Our pitchers have been outstanding in Ivy play thus far, and if we get similar performances from our starters, we love our chances."
The seniors will lead the fight on the field as Shirrell hopes to make the Dartmouth history books and Grant looks to stay undefeated in Ivy League play this weekend. The team hopes to remain at the top of their division in two doubleheaders against division rival Yale on Saturday and Sunday at Red Rolfe Field. Both games start at noon.