But the bats for Dartmouth woke up in the nightcap and the Big Green earned its first victory of the season, picking up a split in a double-header against Cincinnati. The Bearcats took the first game 4-0, but the Big Green came back to win the second game 8-4.
While the Big Green (1-2, 0-0 Ivy) has not yet begun conference play, the victory was crucial in giving the team some momentum heading into its trip to Florida, where they will play three teams from the Big Ten, among others. For Cincinnati (4-5, 0-0 Big East), the split gives them the victory in the series, 2-1.
In the first game, the Cincinnati lineup wasted no time getting a jump on Big Green starter Chase Carpenter '08. The Bearcats slapped four hits and were helped out by a Big Green error to race out to a 3-0 lead. Cincinnati's Josh Harrison, Adam Rapp and Cameron Satterwhite each had an RBI in the inning.
Cincinnati would add another insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Michael Early hit a sacrifice fly off of Dartmouth reliever Robert Young '10 to increase its lead to the final tally of 4-0.
The Big Green hitters were kept in check by Cincinnati's lefty starter Dan Osterbrook, who pitched a three-hit complete-game shutout. After giving up an infield single in the first inning, Osterbrook did not allow a hit until the sixth inning.
Dartmouth's best opportunity came in the sixth inning, when the bases were chucked with one out for Ray Allen '09. However, Allen could not take advantage of the opportunity to drive in runs, as he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the scoring opportunity.
Osterbrook (2-0), who had five strikeouts against three walks, earned the win, while Carpenter (0-1) tallied his first loss of the season on the mound.
The second game of the doubleheader went more in the Big Green's favor, as the lineup that had been dormant all weekend finally exploded for eight runs.
At the beginning, it seemed as though things would go similarly to the first game, as the Bearcat offense got its bats going right away on lefty Russell Young '08, who looked shaky in the early going.
Off of two fielding errors, one of which was his own, Young found himself in an early hole with no outs and runners on second and third. However, Young persevered and gave up only one run on an RBI groundout by Satterwhite.
Young's performance continued to be shaky in the second inning. Yeager hit a double to lead off the inning, and Early brought him home on a home run down the right field line to give the Bearcats a 3-0 lead.
Despite the early struggles, Young was pleased with his first pitching performance of the year.
"I thought it was a good start. I was able to locate pitches pretty well, and I'm not sure about the velocity, but for this part of the season it's right where it needs to be," Young said.
Although Cincinnati looked as if they were in for another win early, Young settled down and the Big Green offense went on a tear.
In the top of the third, the Big Green offense exploded for six runs on Bearcat starter John Baird and reliever Kyle Rapp. Dartmouth sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring six runs on five hits and two errors to take the lead for the first time all weekend.
Jason Blydell '08, Damon Wright '08, Michael Pagliarulo '09, Andrew Nacario '07 and Nick Santomauro '10 all picked up RBIs in the frame.
But the Big Green was not done scoring, as the team added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning. Wright had an RBI single and Erik Bell '08 scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 8-3 and put the Big Green up for good.
After all was said and done, the Big Green had amassed 12 hits on the day. Bell led the way with a four-hit performance, while Santomauro and Jason McManis '08 chipped in with two hits apiece.
In the bottom of the seventh, Cincinnati scored a run off of Dartmouth reliever Kyle Zeis '08, but it proved to be just consolation run for the Bearcats.
Young (1-0) was the winning pitcher, while Rapp (0-1) took credit for the loss.
Looking ahead to the Florida trip, the baseball team will be working hard to improve upon the series with Cincinnati.
Bell commented that he and the rest of the team should get better as the hitters get more plate appearances.
"I thought I hit the ball really well over the weekend, and I had confidence at the plate," Bell said. "As the season goes on, getting more plate appearances will help. There's no one specific area that I can point to, but it's important to keep playing and keep getting confidence."
The Big Green kicks off its 10-game spring trip to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. on Thursday, March 15 when the teams faces Fairfield University at 2:30 p.m. Dartmouth returns to Hanover on Wednesday, April 4 in a doubleheader with Quinnipiac beginning at 2 p.m.
