In one dugout was the Dartmouth baseball team, winner of its last four games, tied for first place in the Ivy League, and poised to make another run at the title. In the other was Holy Cross, stumbling into Hanover on a five-game losing streak and in last place in the Patriot League.
With Dartmouth leading 6-4 going into the top of the ninth inning it looked as if things were playing out exactly as they should have. Big Green closer Kyle Zeis '08, who had saved a team-high four games on the season was on the hill as Dartmouth prepared to wrap up the non-conference match-up.
Unfortunately the Big Green did not enjoy a storybook ending.
With one out and the bases loaded the Crusaders freshman shortstop Jake Gorman belted a home run to left for his first career grand slam which proved to be the eventual game-winner. Dartmouth was unable to come back in the bottom of the ninth and lost 8-6.
"I threw him a pitch on the outside corner but just left it a little over the plate," said a noticeably rattled Zeis after the game. However, as a closer he knows that he can't also be the hero and said, "I just gotta let it go."
Captain Tommy Myette '06 echoed the sentiments of many of his teammates. "Immediately after the game, you feel nothing but frustration," he said. "But that's baseball. The game is never over until the final out. Hopefully we learned that today and will continue to compete throughout the game. The only positive thing was that this was a non-conference game and it's better to learn a lesson from those games than an Ivy game."
The Crusaders' ninth-inning heroics may have been for naught if the Big Green could have capitalized on a chance to blow the game open in the prior frame. With the score at 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth the Big Green squandered a bases-loaded opportunity.
After a wild pitch that sent runners to second and third, Holy Cross decided to intentionally walk Will Bashelor '07, who was already 3-for-4 on the day with two runs batted in. Damon Wright '08 stepped up with two outs and the bases juiced but popped out to the shortstop to end the threat.
For the game, Dartmouth left 11 runners on base, continuing a tendency that has often troubled the Big Green this season.
"Stranding runners on base has been a problem for us this year," Myette said. "We have let some games slip this year by leaving runners on base. It always comes back to haunt you and we need to maximize those opportunities."
Dartmouth got on the board first when Erik Bell '08 launched a ground rule double down the right field line that scored Andrew Nacario '07 from second and put the Big Green up 1-0.
Holy Cross came back with two runs in the top of the third, but the heart of the Big Green lineup exploded in the bottom half of the frame for three runs.
Jason Blydell '08 started off the inning with a double down the right field line. Then Bashelor, the team's number-three hitter, stroked a single to left that brought Blydell home.
Wright kept the hit parade going with an RBI triple that just kept carrying with the 15-plus mile-per-hour wind. An RBI single from Myette brought Wright home to give the Big Green a 4-2 lead.
The next chapter in Dartmouth's quest for the Ivy League title begins Saturday when the team takes on Yale at home for a four-game set. The Bulldogs sit just one game back in the Rolfe division.
"Going into this weekend, we need to be sound defensively and take advantage of RBI opportunities," Myette said. "Yale is similar to us in every respect so it should be an intense weekend."
