With the game against the Raiders on Saturday tied 2-2 and the go-ahead run on second in the top of the ninth, Big Green reliever Cole Sulser '12 struck out the last two batters to end the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, leadoff hitter Jake Carlson '12 drew a walk and advanced to second off a sacrifice bunt by Ennis Coble '13. Joe Sclafani '12 was then intentionally walked and clean-up batter Jim Wren '10 punched a double to left field, allowing Carlson to score the winning run.
"Obviously you want to win every game, but winning the first game of the season is especially important for us," captain Robert Young '10 said. "The night before we played them, they beat Virginia, who is ranked number one, so we knew they were good and it was great to beat them."
After four scoreless innings, the Raiders finally scored in the fifth despite solid pitching by Young. Sophomore Garrett Gray doubled down the line and then proceeded to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Ashe. Two batters later, Gray scored on a single through the left side by rookie Cameron Fagg.
Dartmouth responded two innings later when Sclafani led off with a single up the right. Wren followed with his first double of the game, sending Sclafani home.
The Big Green scored again to establish a short-lived 2-1 lead after an Onstott single was followed by a wild throw by the Raiders and a sacrifice fly from Brandon Parks '11.
Wright State tied it up again scoring in the eighth before the Big Green closed out the win.
"Although we were happy about winning our first game, we knew that we were now going to have to face the number one team in the country," Young said. "We knew going in that they felt like they had something to prove."
In Saturday's game against the Cavaliers, the Big Green started strong with a run in the top of the first inning. Carlson led off with a single and then advanced to third on a single by Sclafani. Wren hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Carlson, putting the Big Green on the scoreboard first.
Although Dartmouth kept Virginia scoreless in six of eight innings, the Cavaliers maximized on its two big rallies.
Big Green pitcher Ben Murray '10 gave up six runs in the second inning after walking three batters. Dan Ternowchek '11 replaced Murray midway through the fourth, but the eight-run inning buried Dartmouth under a 14-1 deficit.
The Big Green later added single runs in the sixth and in the eighth, but not enough to make up the deficit.
"We had a lot of guys who did a lot of things right [on Saturday]," Young said. "We also made some mistakes and helped them out. You can't do that against a good team and expect to win."
In the second game against Virginia on Sunday, Dartmouth jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before giving up eight consecutive runs.
"This game, we did better at throwing more strikes," head coach Bob Whalen said. "We gave up some hits, but we also got out of some critical situations. When you make mistakes, you pay."
The Big Green only had one error in the three games, but stranded 28 of its players on base.
"It's early in the season and our hitters haven't seen a whole lot of live pitching," Young said. "This is nothing to worry about and will not really be a problem in a month. It is just going to take our players some getting used to and time for us to mentally prepare."
According to Whalen, the trip was successful in highlighting the team's strengths and weaknesses.
"We played the game right, we played the game hard and I really liked our approach," Whalen said. "As the games went on, we were much more aggressive in our at-bats and we showed good poise through the games. [The other teams] had chances to break the game open and they couldn't do it."
The Big Green will travel to Florida for its spring break trip where it will play 11 games.
