Dartmouth softball went three for four in back-to-back doubleheaders against the Brown Bears in Providence, R.I., this weekend.
On Saturday, the Big Green won twice, 4-3 and 1-0, while on Sunday, Dartmouth took game one, 7-3, before losing the nightcap, 5-3.
The Big Green (9-20, 5-7 Ivy) is currently in second place in the North Division of the Ivy League, behind only Harvard (16-15, 7-3 Ivy).
Brown (4-19, 1-11 Ivy) currently stands at the bottom of the Ivy League. The Bears finally broke a 14-game losing streak and gained their first conference win in Sunday's victory over the Big Green.
Saturday's first game remained low-scoring until the top of the sixth inning, when Dartmouth took the first lead of the day with three runs off of two hits and the help of three errors by the Brown shortstop, first baseman and right fielder.
The Bears retaliated with one run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but starting pitcher Angela Megaw '08 held them off for her fourth win of the season.
Game two of Saturday's doubleheader was scoreless until the top of the sixth inning, when Jackie Begay '10, pinch-running for Leigha Clarkson '10, scored on a single to right centerfield by J.J. Wright '10 for the only run of the game.
Devin Lindsay '11 got her third win of the season on the mound in game two, giving up no runs and only three hits in seven innings of play.
Audrey Kolodziej '11, catching in place of the injured Clarkson, had three hits in five at-bats on the day, and also tacked on one run and batted in Saturday's first game.
After taking a two-run lead in the top of the second in Sunday's opener, the Big Green gave up three runs on five hits combined in the fourth and fifth innings.
Dartmouth then broke the game open with a two-out, sixth-inning rally that began with a single to centerfield by Wright. After giving up one hit and walking two batters, Brown pitcher Emily Chaddock allowed Kirsten Costello '10 a double to center to clear the bases.
Clarkson then hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to give the Big Green a 7-3 lead.
"In softball, hitting is contagious," Wright, who had three RBIs on the weekend, said. "You build off your teammates, and we really did that this weekend."
Clarkson, playing third base instead of taking her usual spot behind the plate, leads the team with a .325 slugging percentage and 27 total bases. She had five hits on the weekend, including a solo home run in Sunday's opener.
"Every game, there is someone else who stands out," said Wright. "[Clarkson] stands out this weekend because she's doing it all with a broken finger."
Game two of Sunday's doubleheader began with a three-run bottom of the first for Brown.
The Big Green came back with two runs off of hits from Katie Chifcian '09 and Alyssa Parker '10 in the top of the third and tacked on another in the top of the fifth, but Brown extended its lead with two more runs during their next chance at the plate.
Stephanie Trudeau '09, who started on the mound in the Sunday nightcap, gave up five runs and allowed five hits in four and a third innings on the mound.
Tri-captain Sarah Bankoff '08 was proud of her team for being able to come back from a deficit.
"Our strength this weekend came from our ability to battle back," Bankoff said. "We learned that we can come from behind to win, but we're going to need to put hits together earlier in the game."
This weekend marked the beginning of inter-divisional play for Ivy League softball. The two Ivy divisions, North and South, will begin facing off against each other, with the top team in each division at the end of the season earning a trip to the championship game, which is scheduled to take place the weekend of Saturday, May 3.
"I think we learned a good lesson, especially from the last game," Bankoff said. "We learned that we can win, but we need to hit early and often. Now we know what we need to do against Yale, and I think we can do it."
The Big Green hopes to have a healthy squad for its stand-off against Yale, as Clarkson, Costello and tri-captain Ashley Gleason '09 all suffered injuries this week.
While Gleason sat out against the Bears this weekend with a hamstring injury, Costello, who suffered a head injury during practice, and Clarkson, who broke her finger in a game against Columbia, both played solid games for the Big Green.
Dartmouth will face the Yale Bulldogs in another back-to-back doubleheader in Hanover next weekend. This weekend, Yale (13-19, 2-10 Ivy) dropped four games to Harvard, which extended its current win streak to 11 games. The Bulldogs, currently on a five-game losing streak, stands in third place in the North division.
