After Saturday's doubleheader was cancelled due to rain in dreary New Haven, the Dartmouth baseball team split a division doubleheader against the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon. Dartmouth lost the first game 4-3, but came back to win game two, 6-2.
The weather didn't keep Will Bashelor '07 from taking sole possession of Dartmouth's single-season record for most stolen bases with his 26th stolen base in the second game of the doubleheader.
Dartmouth (12-15, 7-7) lost the first game to Yale (19-14, 7-7) when closer Nick Peay '05 gave up the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the seven-inning game. The Big Green had tied up the game 3-3 with two down in the top of the inning but failed to hold the tie.
Yale took the lead in the first inning when wind knocked down a fly ball by Marc Sawyer to right field to make it a double. Sawyer scored on a single by John Janco to make the Yale lead 1-0.
In the second inning Dartmouth starter Jeff Wilkerson '07 allowed five Yale batters to reach base, but only one run scored. Wilkerson helped his own cause by expertly fielding a bunt and flipping it to captain Brian Zurhellen '05 who tagged the runner attempting to score on a suicide squeeze.
Dartmouth tried to pick away at the Yale lead in the fifth as the first two batters reached, but they were stranded and the score remained 2-0.Wilkerson sat down eight straight batters between the third and fifth innings, but the Big Green bats were unable to give him the runs needed for the win. In the sixth, Dartmouth couldn't string together the hits needed to advance their runners and another run by the Bulldogs in the sixth left Dartmouth with a 3-0 deficit to make up in the top of the seventh.
Zurhellen led off the seventh with a walk followed by a single by co-captain Josh Bailey '05. Yale starter Alec Smith sat down the next two batters, but then hit Andrew Nacario '07 to load the bases. Jason Blydell '08 hit a routine grounder to short that escaped the shortstop, allowing Zurhellen to score and Blydell to reach safely. Bashelor singled to left, plating Bailey and Nacario to tie the game 3-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, Wilkerson retired the first two batters, but Erik Bell '08 threw away a two-out grounder, allowing the runner to reach second. Peay came on to face Sawyer, who hit a single to center. Bashelor, after fielding the hit, stumbled before throwing home, allowing Ankney to score the winning run. Wilkerson received the loss after allowing three earned runs on 6 2/3 innings. Smith did not allow an earned run in his victory.
Dartmouth took the early lead in the second game with an RBI single by Jeff Speights '05. In the second, Chris Grimm '05 singled to right before before Nacario drove him in with a two-out single to give Dartmouth the 2-0 lead. Bashelor walked to lead off the third inning and broke the school record with his steal of second base, but was left stranded. Dartmouth ace Josh Faiola '06 retired the first 10 batters of the game before the Bulldogs were able to reach him with a one-out single in the fourth inning.
In the fifth inning, consecutive hits off Faiola allowed runners to reach second and third. The sole run of the inning was scored on a ground out.
The Big Green took advantage of sloppy play by the Yale defense in the sixth inning when three of their four runs were unearned. Speights and Zurhellen both reached base when Yale starter Mike Mongiardini drilled both of them. Bailey drove in Speights with a single to left, then Marty Hebert '05 bunted back to Mongiardini who overthrew to third, allowing Zurhellen to score. Reliever Steve Gilman struck out the first batters he faced, but allowed Bailey and Hebert to score with a throwing error.
Yale picked up their second run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to make the score 6-2. Faiola picked up the victory with his complete game effort. He struck out 10, allowed nine hits and two earned runs. The Big Green' next home game is Thursday against Quinnipiac at 3:00 p.m.