The Big Green (3-10-1) travels to Columbia on Saturday and Penn on Sunday for two sets of doubleheaders. Columbia and Penn squared off against each other last weekend, and Columbia won three of four in a two-day series.
Dartmouth is fresh off its 10-game road trip, where it racked up two victories, seven losses and one tie. The tie against Eastern Kentucky was the first in head coach Bob Whelan's 17-year career, and only the twenty-first in Dartmouth history. The game was called early due to rain in the bottom of the sixth inning shortly after Eastern Kentucky tied the game in the top of the fifth inning. Russell Young '08 induced an inning-ending double play to keep Eastern Kentucky from taking the lead, and ultimately saving Dartmouth from a loss.
The Big Green went on to defeat the University of Massachusetts 14-10, before dropping seven straight to a very difficult schedule that consisted of three Big Ten opponents, and Florida Atlantic University.
"We played seven games against the Big Ten, a power conference with fully funded scholarships, and we were either ahead or tied in six of the seven games somewhere around the fourth or the fifth inning, so we were in every game," said Whelan.
Historically on the spring trip Dartmouth tries to schedule games against the best available opponents, something Whelan considers very important to team development.
Dartmouth traveled to Hampden, Conn. to take on Quinnipiac on Wednesday, losing an 11-6 decision after Big Green jumped out to a four-run lead in the top of the first, capitalizing on two Bobcat errors. Quinnipiac didn't allow Dartmouth's cushion to last as Young gave up three runs on three hits in the bottom half of the first. The Bobcats took the lead for good in the fourth, scoring three to go up 6-5 and scoring in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to put the game away.
Dartmouth used six pitchers, which is common for a non-conference weekday game. All of the pitchers gave up at least one hit. Nick Santomauro '10 had a strong day at the plate, reaching base three times on two errors, and had an RBI single in the second. He also scored and stole a base. Santomauro, who is batting .538 after 39 at-bats is having what is shaping up to be a breakout rookie year, although there is plenty of baseball left to be played.
"He's a very good player, we knew that when we recruited him," Whelan said of Santomauro. "He's a kid who wants to be good, and he's working at it. We're not surprised that he's doing well. We just hope that he keeps it up now that we start the league games."
"Sometimes you're just seeing the ball well," Santomauro said. "You just try to get a hit every time you're up."
With the start of league play this weekend, the Big Green reaches the part of the season that really matters. Much of the work done in the season is to prepare for the Ivy League schedule. Last year, Dartmouth lost the Red Rolfe division of the Ivy League to Harvard in a race that came down to the last game of the year. This year, Dartmouth will once again be gunning for a division championship that they have not won since 2004.
Columbia (8-11-1, 3-1 Ivy) had a strong start to their Ivy schedule last weekend, and has already won half as many conference games as they did last season. As a team, the Bears are batting an impressive .294, and feature four starters batting over .300. Dartmouth is batting .269, and, including Santomauro, has just two regular starters above .300. However, Dartmouth has faced much tougher opponents than Columbia so far this season.
Like Columbia, Penn's offensive numbers are also impressive, but their non-conference schedule is also weak. Penn (7-10, 1-3 Ivy) is fresh off an 11-5 defeat of Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, but faces Harvard on Saturday before going against the Big Green on Sunday.
Historically, the Red Rolfe division, consisting of Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown and Yale, has been stronger than the Lou Gehrig division. Last year, Yale, the last place finisher in the Red Rolfe division, matched the record of Princeton, the Lou Gehrig division champion.
The first pitch of both of Dartmouth's doubleheaders this weekend will come at noon.
"[The conference schedule] will be fun," Santomauro said. "It's what we've been training for all year. It's what the season is all about."
