Last year, the Fairfield doubleheader was postponed indefinitely because of heavy rain. This year, an hour-long rain delay interrupted the flow of the first game as the women in green dropped the first of two games 8-3 and lost the latter game to the Stags 8-4 on Alumni Softball Field in Fairfield, Conn.
"Fairfield is definitely a beatable team, but they were simply more aggressive than us in the first game," Sarah Bankoff '08 said. "They came out to win and we did not play up to our potential."
In the first match, Dartmouth allowed the Stags to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings before heavy rain forced a stoppage of play.
After the rain delay, the Big Green held Fairfield scoreless in the third inning and tallied three runs in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-3.
In the fourth, Stephanie Trudeau '09's RBI single brought Kelly Fry '07 in to score. After a Megan Snively '09 single loaded the bases later in the inning, Jess Reiten '06 doubled to plate Trudeau and Alicia Petryk '06 and close the deficit to a single run. Dartmouth managed three runs on four hits in the frame.
But the Stags scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to grab an 8-3 edge over the Big Green. Dartmouth was shut out the rest of the way.
"Fairfield played a solid offensive game with a strong combination of bunts and long balls," Petryk said. "Our team did not execute this as well [as Fairfield did]. However, with each game there has been offensive improvement in all parts of the lineup."
In game two, the Big Green took an early lead but was unable to produce timely hits and ultimately dropped the game 8-4.
"In the second game, our effort was definitely there," Bankoff said. "But we just need to be able to manufacture runs once we have runners in scoring position."
In the second inning, Dartmouth took a 2-0 advantage after Snively doubled to left center. Petryk and Ashley Gleason '09 scored on Snively's double.
The Snags quickly scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning to capture a 3-2 lead, but a Reiten single helped Gleason come home to tie the score in the fourth inning.
In the fifth and sixth innings, Fairfield combined for five runs to devastate Dartmouth's efforts and put the game away.
"We came out of the UMass game with the goal of generating more offense, which we did." Petryk said. "Although it was not enough to beat Fairfield, we made good adjustments which will help us in Ivy play."
Bankoff agreed with her teammate.
"We made some improvements at Fairfield today," Bankoff said. "We had no trouble hitting but did have trouble manufacturing runs. Now that our bats are back we are going to have to put it all together and do the little things right."
Despite the losses, Dartmouth remains optimistic about its season.
"We have come a long way from where we started our season four weeks ago," Bankoff said. "We have seen how well we can play, but we just need to put it all together.
"We have been working really hard and we will be ready to come out fighting when conference play starts next weekend," Bankoff added. "We are very excited for our Ivy League schedule to begin and we believe we will be very competitive."
The young team, about half of which consists of newcomers, suffered a shortage of players because of injury. In the past two weekends, only 12 players were healthy enough to participate in the games.
Furthermore, freshman shortstop Molly Chafe '09 broke her leg on the team's Florida training trip and adjustments were made to accommodate the loss. However, the team is still trying to adjust to new positions.
The Big Green heads to Sachem Field for its home opener on Tuesday when it meets Providence College for a doubleheader. The games are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
