Dartmouth softball lost out on a chance to split a weekend away when Princeton defeated the Big Green in eight innings on Sunday. Dartmouth had competed neck-and-neck with Penn before losing the first game at Princeton 5-0 and dropping a heartbreaker in extra-innings three hours later. Dartmouth now stands at 8-14-1, 4-4 Ivy and remains tied for second in league play.
Penn freshman hurler Ann Ferracane received only one run of support in the opening game on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Big Green, that was all she needed.
Ferracane was a force in the circle for the Quakers with thirteen strikeouts and a complete game shutout.
She outmatched her rookie opponent, Angela Megaw '08, who continued to show surprising strength and poise on the mound in her first season with the Big Green. Megaw allowed four hits and only one run in six innings of work but still recorded a loss on the day.
In the bottom of the second inning, sophomore Kim May provided Penn with their lone run on a two-out single, plating junior Jen Nichols.
Dartmouth had its first scoring chance in the top of the third when Kerry Conway '05 and Jill Garcia '05 both singled to put runners on second and third with one out. However, a strikeout and pop up erased the threat.
The Big Green looked to score once again in the fifth with back-to-back hits by Garcia and Kelly Fry '07, but a strikeout sealed the deal for Penn, which went on to capture a 1-0 victory.
Dartmouth bats awoke early in the nightcap, touching sophomore pitcher Olivia Mauro for two runs on six hits in two innings. Nevertheless, by the sixth inning, both teams were knotted at three runs apiece.
With one out, Garcia continued her productive afternoon in a big way, knocking in Christina Ferraris '06, the winning run, with a clutch single. The win pushed Dartmouth ahead of Penn in the Ivy League standings heading into Sunday's games at Princeton.
In the first game on Sunday, Dartmouth held the game close until the fifth inning, when two Tiger doubles led to three runs in the frame and a 5-0 advantage.
Dartmouth never had a chance after that, as junior Erin Snyder dominated the Big Green, striking out 16 and, more notably, collecting her second perfect game of the year.
The nightcap was a different story. The Big Green jumped to an early lead on a Conway homerun in the fourth inning. Princeton tied the game in the bottom-half of the frame on a perfectly placed bunt by Snyder, who played first base in game two.
A single by Conway followed by a Fry homerun gave Dartmouth a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth, but Princeton was once again quick to answer. In the bottom of the frame, with Tigers on first and second, Snyder blasted a double to right field, bringing in both base runners. Snyder finished the day with three RBIs.
The game could not be decided in seven innings, so the two teams moved to extras. Megaw, who had pitched the first seven, remained in the game when Princeton came to bat in the bottom of the eighth.
With Melissa Finley on third, Megaw, who was pitching her 14th inning in 48 hours, threw a wild pitch, allowing Finley to scamper home and give Princeton a 4-3 win.
Megaw falls to 2-6 on the year, a record far from representative of the young rookie's team-leading 2.85 ERA.
Dartmouth returns to action on Tuesday when Vermont comes to town for a doubleheader at Sachem field, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
