The Big Green lost to the Crimson 2-1 in ten innings and won the late game, 13-8, on Saturday in Cambridge. The teams returned to Hanover on Sunday as Dartmouth took game one 4-1, before being routed 23-9. Dartmouth's two losses gave Harvard the top spot in the division at 14-6, and the Crimson will advance to the Ivy League Championship series next weekend against Lou Gehrig champion Princeton.
Dartmouth (19-18) finishes 13-7 in the Ivy League.
Dartmouth needed a sweep of Harvard and one Yale loss in order to win the Rolfe division coming into the weekend. The Big Green's split with the Crimson in Cambridge, combined with Yale's two losses to Brown, set up a final-day league showdown on Sunday to determine the division winner.
Dartmouth went one step closer to the crown behind an "outstanding" performance, according to head coach Bob Whalen, by pitcher Jeff Wilkerson '07 in game one. The junior right-hander pitched a complete-game shutout, and limited Harvard batters to eight singles in seven innings while striking out six and walking none to give the Big Green an opportunity to seal the division in the final game of the league season.
In the third, Will Bashelor '07 hit a one-out, one-run triple and scored one batter later on a sac fly by Wright to left field to make the score, 2-0. Johnathon Santopadre '09 scored his second run of the game in the fifth on a throwing error, and the Big Green added one more run in the bottom of the sixth when Raymond Allen '09 scored from second on two consecutive sacrifice bunts.
Whalen said he told his team only a few words of wisdom entering the critical game two on Sunday. "The only thing I said to them is to shows some patience and to show some poise," he remarked.
In the decisive nightcap, the team showed plenty of poise at the plate, but it was not enough to offset the numerous miscues committed by Dartmouth both in the field and on the mound. The Big Green recorded eight errors, and four different pitchers combined to give up 24 hits, seven doubles and two home runs. Four of these errors occurred in the final two innings, when Harvard snapped a 9-9 tie and poured in 14 runs.
"Today was a pretty good day except for the last two innings," Whalen said after the game. "We didn't catch the ball in the infield, and we didn't pitch well."
The Big Green found itself down quickly in the decisive nightcap as it trailed 7-2 heading into the bottom of the third, but Tommy Myette '06 homered to right with one man on to cut the deficit to 7-4. Allen added a leadoff home run in the fourth for another run, but Harvard added two more runs in the fifth and sixth, including a mammoth home run to left by Josh Klimkiewicz.
Now down 9-5 in the seventh, Will Bashelor '07 hit a double to the left field wall with men on first and second for an RBI and Damon Wright '08 singled to the gap in left for two runs. Allen then delivered another clutch hit with two outs and one on second, connecting for a one-run double to knot the score at 9-9.
On Saturday, Dartmouth lost a heartbreaker in extra innings in game one before the team came back in game two to send the series back to Hanover split at one game apiece. Kyle Zeis '08 yielded three straight hits in the bottom of the tenth, and Harvard's Morgan Brown took a 2-0 pitch deep to centerfield to record the walk-off RBI single.
Santopadre registered the lone run for the Big Green in the first inning, scoring on a two-out hit by Damon Wright '08. Starter Russell Young '08 pitched nine innings and allowed just one run on seven hits, but the loss fell to Zeis.
The nightcap turned in favor of Dartmouth, as the team was able to clinch the win thanks to 10 unearned runs and seven walks yielded by the Crimson defense and pitching staff.
The Big Green jumped out to a 5-0 advantage by the second inning, scoring four runs in the first off of two bases-loaded walks and a two-run single by Jack Monahan '09. Allen continued his offensive success in the fifth inning, hitting a bases-clearing double to left centerfield and then scoring from third after a sacrifice fly from Erik Bell '08.
After several Crimson runs, the Big Green added five runs in the top of the seventh to put itself ahead for good when a bases-loaded error by the Crimson with one out led to runs scored by Allen and Myette, and Wright connected for a two-run double to increase the lead to 13-6.
Josh Faiola '06 improved to 5-2, a team best, going eight innings and allowing 11 hits.
When asked how this Ivy League season ranked with those of seasons past, Whalen said, "They always rank higher when you win, but this was a great race."
Dartmouth baseball has much to look forward to next year in the Ivy League, as it loses only four seniors to graduation and returns an experienced group of underclassmen starters.
The Big Green wraps up its season with two games this week. The team travels to Hartford on Tuesday and hosts Boston College on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. both days.
