These were key victories in the tight race between the four teams in the Red Rolfe Division, placing Dartmouth (13-13, 9-3 Ivy) in a tie for first with Harvard. The losses dropped Brown to 8-4 in the league and knotted them with Yale in a third-place tie.
Dartmouth was able to score first in each victory behind consistent early pitching, but head coach Bob Whalen said that the early advantage could bring mixed blessings in college baseball, where aluminum bats almost guarantee run production from any team.
"Often times it's harder to play with the lead, especially when you get the lead early," Whalen said.
The coach's words proved true in the late 8-6 victory on Sunday, when the Big Green grabbed an early 8-2 lead by the second inning. In the six-run second inning, Will Bashelor '07 hit a two-RBI single while Tommy Myette '06 connected for a pair of home runs.
The Bears chipped away at starter Chase Carpenter '08, hitting back-to-back homers in the seventh to cut the deficit to two by the eighth inning. But reliever Kyle Zeis '08 forced the final six outs to earn his fourth save of the season.
Brown started game one on Saturday quickly, hitting two home runs by the forth inning to go ahead by seven. The Big Green got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the fifth. Myette, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, started off the inning with a single and scored from second after the Bears' two straight fielding errors.
Jack Monahan '09 hit into a double play in the next at-bat, but the Bears couldn't prevent Andrew Nacario '07 from scoring from third.
Following his shutout of Columbia, Russell Young '08, the Ivy League Co-Pitcher of the Week, yielded 11 hits and struck out six to fall to 2-2 in the loss.
However, the Big Green rallied back in the nightcap riding on the arm of ace Josh Faiola '06. The senior co-captain, now 5-1, went all nine innings and allowed only one run in the bottom of the ninth off seven hits, walking two while striking out five in what Whalen called one of Faiola's "best [outings] at Dartmouth."
"After losing the first game, there was a lot of pressure on him [Faiola]," Whalen said, stressing the importance of each victory in the tight divisional race. "He had command of three pitches and Brown is not an easy team to shut down."
Johnathon Santopadre '09 scored in the first inning after a sacrificial bunt by Nacario moved the freshman to second, setting up Damon Wright '08 to connect for an RBI double to right center.
Bashelor scored the final two runs, scoring from second on two sacrifice flies by Myette in the fourth and ninth inning to go up 3-0.
Whalen said that Faiola has been very valuable to the Big Green squad, crediting the chaos of the draft year the pitcher experienced last season as a major factor in his dominance on the mound and as a dugout leader this season.
"He's really been a leader in helping other guys get better," Whalen said,
On Sunday, Bashelor continued to spark the Big Green with his bat and drove in every run in the team's early 3-1 victory. He hit a solo homer to left field in the first inning and later drove in Monahan and Santopadre, who went 5-for-9 on the afternoon with a double in the fifth.
Jeff Wilkerson '07 limited the Bears to one run in the fourth when an error extended the inning and worked out of the two-out loaded bases with a strikeout to Ryan Murphy. The junior righthander retired the first nine Brown batters and ended the outing giving up only three hits while striking out seven.
With Harvard and Yale looming on the Ivy League schedule, Whalen said that these four-game series don't give any team an edge when it comes to familiarizing a team with its opponent's tendencies.
"I say this to the players all the time -- Information is important, but it all comes down to execution," Whalen said.
Before the Big Green takes on its Ancient Eight rivals, the squad travels to Burlington today to play the University of Vermont at 3 p.m.
