The Dartmouth baseball team has certainly been surprising fans and opponents throughout the 2005 season with its uncharacteristically streaky play.
Tuesday's doubleheader against Vermont proved no different, as the Big Green rebounded from a disappointing weekend against Brown with a sweep of the Catamounts.
A walk-off three run homer by John Huelskamp '06 gave Dartmouth a 12-10 edge in the first game, while Chase Carpenter '08 pitched the Big Green to an 8-0 victory in the nightcap.
In the game one, Vermont took the lead with two earned runs in the first inning, but Will Bashelor '07 quickly answered, driving in a run to cut the Catamount lead in half.
Two errors later, Josh Bailey '05 stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and crushed a base-clearing double to the right giving Dartmouth the 4-2 lead.
Countering Dartmouth's offensive prowess, Jason Carey of Vermont hit a grand slam in the second inning, shifting the lead back to Vermont.
Dartmouth's attempts to rally were shut down by double plays in the second, third and fourth innings, and Vermont extended its lead to 9-4 by the fifth.
However, in the bottom half of the inning, Dartmouth woke up.
Bashelor drove in another run as he doubled in Jason Blydell '08, and moments later, the Big Green drew within three behind a third Catamount error.
Bailey got another big hit with a two-run double; Marty Hebert '05 advanced Bailey to third with an infield single; and Brian Zurhellen '05 hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game 9-9.
Vermont took back the 10-9 lead in the sixth, and Dartmouth, again, allowed a double play to end a potential rally.
But, a strong inning from closer Nick Peay '05 gave Dartmouth the chance to come back in the bottom of the seventh.
Bailey walked and reached third base when Hebert's potential game-ending double play grounder turned into a one hopper that snagged second base before bouncing into center field.
Though Vermont retired Zurhellen, Hebert managed to advance into scoring position, and with two down, Huelskamp sent his first hit since March 20 into the trees past left field.
Feeding off of the opening game's dramatic conclusion, Carpenter shut down the Catamounts with six innings of scoreless work before handing the ball to Michael Madson '05, who completed the shutout.
Dartmouth didn't get onto the board until the bottom of the second when Hebert drove Jeff Speights '05 in with a single, and Zurhellen scored on an error.
While this was all Carpenter would need for the win, the offense powered its way to five runs in the third inning on a two-run double by Bashelor and a three-run home by Zurhellen.
Damon Wright '08 hit a solo home run in the fourth to finalize the score at 8-0.
Zurhellen went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three. He currently stands at seventh place in Dartmouth baseball history with 17 career home runs.
"Now that we're playing better and have some momentum going into the weekend," Zurhellen assured, "we're looking to do some real damage against Yale and Harvard."
Bailey noted the importance of looking at the games one at a time.
"We are doing all that we can do to win and not worrying about what anyone else is doing." Bailey said. "We can't afford to make the same mistakes that we made last weekend again."
Bashelor continues to tear up the base paths with a Dartmouth record 25 steals on the season. He is currently tied with John Orr '41. Orr set the mark as a senior, besting Michael O'Brien's total of 24 from 1906.
Dartmouth will face Ivy League rival Yale in New Haven this weekend. Both doubleheaders will begin at 12:00 p.m.
