It will be the second meeting of the two teams this season. On April 7, the Big Green (24-14, 15-5 Ivy) and the Lions (20-24, 15-5 Ivy) split a doubleheader in Hanover. Columbia took the first game, 7-1, and the Big Green won the nightcap, 9-3.
Although the teams finished with similar Ivy League records, Dartmouth won the tiebreaker for home field advantage because the Big Green has a better winning percentage over the league's next best team, Princeton (19-22, 11-9 Ivy). Dartmouth swept the Tigers in two games early in the season, while the Lions split with Princeton in four games.
Dartmouth is 9-4 at home this season, while the Lions have a 12-18 record on the road.
Dartmouth captain and right-handed pitcher Russell Young '08 said the home field advantage could be a major factor in the series.
"In traveling around the league and playing at all the other places, we definitely have the best home field advantage of any of the teams in the league," he said. "That's definitely going to be a factor. It motivates the team to play in front of the home crowd and there's going to be a ton of energy from all of the students and fans."
On paper, the differences between the two teams are clear.
Dartmouth has a dominant offense. -- the Big Green is hitting .319 as a team on the year with a .465 slugging percentage, nine players are batting above .300.
Standout center fielder Damon Wright '08 leads the team with a .400 batting average and is tied for first with 37 runs batted in. First baseman Michael Pagliarulo '09 and outfielder Nick Santomauro '10 have both had strong seasons at the plate in conference play.
For Columbia, the offensive attack is less balanced. As a team the Lions hit .289, but four Columbia batters have averages over .350. Senior second baseman Henry Perkins leads the team with a .370 batting average, and is tied for third with 29 RBIs.
On the mound, Dartmouth's pitchers have a combined 5.74 earned run average, compared to Columbia's team 6.14 ERA, a difference of just one run for every three games pitched.
Other statistics show a bigger pitching gap between the two teams. The Lions' pitchers have allowed the most hits, runs and home runs against opposing batters in the Ivy League this season.The Big Green is in the middle of the pack of the Ancient Eight in those categories.
Young and right-hander Chase Carpenter '08 lead the Big Green pitching staff with a combined 9-4 record. Robert Young '10 and Jake Pruner '11 round out the Big Green's starting pitchers, while Kyle Zeis '08 and Bobby Steinsdoerfer '07 are the main relief pitchers in the bullpen.
Freshman righthander Geoff Whitaker touts a team-high 6-3 record with a 7.07 ERA for Columbia. Junior Joe Scarlata (4-4) and senior Bill Purdy (4-3) have also been successful as starters for the Lions this year.
Wright thinks Dartmouth's offense will present a formidable problem for Columbia's pitchers.
"They have a really good pitching staff -- they have a lot of guys who can throw strikes around the plate and have good off-speed pitches," Wright said. "But we think we're equal to the task. We have a lot of guys that can beat you in a lot of different ways -- the short game, power, speed -- so it's going to be a really good matchup."
Carpenter added that Dartmouth's defense will be a valuable asset in the series. The Big Green are tied in the league with the University of Pennsylvania for fewest errors committed.
"The defense has improved," Carpenter said. "This past weekend against Harvard the defense made some fantastic plays. The team chemistry has also gotten better as the guys have gotten to gel together as a team and people understand their roles."
Dartmouth was scheduled to play two games this week, but Tuesday's road matchup with the University of Hartford was rained out. The Big Green took on Boston College at home on Wednesday.
This year's championships series will mark the first Ivy League title matchup between the two teams.
The series will also mark Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen's fourth chance at the elusive league title. Whalen has coached the Big Green for 19 seasons, but is 0-3 in Ivy League championship games.
Young said that, though the team hopes to deliver Whalen his first championship, they were playing not just for him but for all of the players, students, parents and fans.
"Whalen has been here for a long time and deserves all the success that he can get," he said. "But we want to go out and have a good weekend and win a championship for everybody."
With the upcoming renovation of Red Rolfe Field, this weekend's championship series will likely be the last games played in the venue in its current form.
The three-game series will kick off with two nine-inning contests starting at noon on Saturday at Red Rolfe Field. If the teams split Saturday's doubleheader, the Ivy League champion will be crowned following a game on Sunday afternoon.
