A two-run homer by Yale sophomore Ryan Lavarnway in the third inning of game one on Saturday drove in the winning run for the Bulldogs (14-23, 6-8 Ivy) after Marc Sawyer doubled to lead off the inning. Dartmouth starter Russell Young '08 gave up two more hits in the inning before junior Dan Soltman was caught in a pickle trying to steal second.
The Big Green (6-22-1, 3-11 Ivy) had only two hits before the top of the sixth inning when Nick Santomauro '10 singled up the middle with two outs to drive in Jason McManis '08 for Dartmouth's only run of the contest. The Big Green loaded the bases on a walk by Andrew Nacario '07, but Jason Blydell '08 flied out to left to end the inning.
Yale starter Brandon Josselyn ended the game with a one-two-three seventh inning to earn the complete game victory, giving up five hits and three walks while striking out three. Young also pitched a complete game, giving up three runs, two of which were earned, while walking two and striking out two.
The Big Green turned things around offensively early in the second game of the afternoon, scoring four runs in the first three innings on RBIs from Damon Wright '08, McManis, and Ezra Josephson '10. Josephson also scored on a wild pitch in the second.
Yale cut Dartmouth's lead to one with an RBI single in the first off a solo shot by Justin Ankney, his fourth homer of the season. The Bulldogs continued to hit starter Jeff Wilkerson '07 hard in the fourth inning, leading off with a triple and a double and adding two runs before Ankney hit his second homer of the game in the fifth to extend Yale's lead to 5-3.
Dartmouth has not been able to match the power hitting of other teams in the Red Rolfe division. The Big Green has only knocked five home runs all year, while Yale has 29, Brown has 27 and Harvard has 11.
Head coach Bob Whalen admitted that he had noticed the lack of power-hitting by his team.
"Certainly the difference in the power is a concern, and you're not going to address it in this year, it doesn't work like that," he said. "But it's something that we've thought about. [Power hitting] is important at all levels. The team that out slugs the other one usually wins 65 to 68 percent of the time."
Reliever Bobby Steinsdoerfer '07 came into the game in the sixth inning to stop the bleeding, and Dartmouth took back control of the game in the seventh. Santomauro and Wright reached base and moved into scoring position with the help of a pair of defensive miscues by the Bulldogs before Ray Allen '09 drove in two runs on a single up the middle. Allen then scored off a single by Josephson.
Josephson, who was making his second start of the season, was 3-5 with two RBI's. He found out about the start just before the beginning of the second game.
"He was playing out of his mind this weekend," Wilkerson said. "He finally got an opportunity to start and he used it to the best of his ability and was a great competitor."
"I was just happy that we got the win for the day, and that I could contribute to it," Josephson said.
Yale made a push to take the game back in the eighth inning but Kyle Zeis '08 entered the game to make his first five-out save of the season.
Bulldog starter Chris Weitlispatch took the loss, despite three of his seven runs allowed being unearned, including the game-winner. He gave up twelve hits, striking out six and walking two in seven innings pitched.
After surrendering three early-inning runs in game one on Sunday, Dartmouth crawled back into the game, tying the score at three when Wright drove in Blydell with a double to left field in the fifth inning. But Yale quickly put the game away with back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the frame.
The Big Green were able to bring a runner home in the second, fourth and fifth innings, but left the bases loaded in the fourth and men in scoring position in the third and sixth innings. Yale stranded six runners in the contest, but did not have the same problems scoring men from second base.
"We weren't quite as crisp and we liked to be handling the ball in the infield," Whalen said. "It put them in scoring position a few more times than you would have liked, which puts pressure on your pitchers to make pitches against good hitters."
In the final game of the weekend, Chase Carpenter '08 made a solid start and surrendered only four hits in the first four innings before Yale broke open the scoring with a two-run fifth.
An error by Carpenter, a bunt and a walk moved runners into scoring position, setting up a pair of RBI singles for Lavarnway and Justin Ankney. Lavarnway is batting .459 on the year and leads the Ivy League in batting.
Dartmouth responded in the top of the sixth, tying the game on a single off the bat of Nacario that allowed Allen to score from first with the help of an error by the shortstop.
Carpenter came out in the seventh after giving up an inning-opening single and was relieved by Zach Cheaney '10. A failed pick-off attempt put the winning run in scoring position, and the Bulldogs tacked on two runs on an RBI single and an error by Allen at first. The game-winning run was charged to Carpenter, who took the loss in the 4-2 final.
The Big Green takes on the University of Vermont on Tuesday April 24 in Burlington, Vt. at 3 p.m. Dartmouth returns to Hanover for its first games at Red Rolfe Field with a doubleheader against Brown on Wednesday, April 25 at 1 p.m. The game was rescheduled from earlier in the season.
