"I think we're just a little timid at the beginning [of games]," catcher Brandon Parks '11 said. "We need to relax and play our game, and when we do, we win."
The Big Green sent rookie pitcher Michael Johnson '13 to the mound for his third start of the season. Johnson was coming off two scoreless innings of relief work in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader against the University of Pennsylvania.
Johnson came out on fire, taking a no-hitter into the fourth inning.
The fourth didn't go as smoothly for Johnson, however, as he surrendered a leadoff double to the Crusaders' (14-15, 4-4 Patriot) second baseman John Sills. Johnson proceeded to balk Sills to third base, and then an infield single by third baseman Matt Perry sent Sills home for the first run of the day.
A hit by Holy Cross' Nick Ciardiello and a wild pitch from Johnson put runners on second and third with no outs. Stephen Wadsworth was then able to drive in Perry from third base with an RBI groundout, but Johnson retired the next two batters, ending what had the potential to be a much bigger inning.
Dartmouth responded immediately in the bottom of the inning, countering with three runs of its own, all of which came with two outs.
After Jim Wren '10 filed out and Joe Sclafani '12 was caught stealing, Jeff Onstott '11 hit a single to left, off Holy Cross pitcher Tom Marra.
Ennis Coble '13 and Zack Bellenger '13 followed that up with singles of their own, loading the bases for Parks.
A patient at bat allowed Parks to find himself facing a 3-1 count, which he capitalized on by hitting a line drive up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.
"I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit," he said. "He got behind in the count, he gave me a pitch I could drive, and I swung at it."
Jake Carlson '12 followed Parks with a single of his own, scoring Bellenger and ending Marra's game.
After retiring the first two Crusaders in the fifth, Johnson gave up a triple to right fielder Jack Laurendeau.
Although Johnson had pitched well thus far, Big Green manager Bob Whalen decided to pull Johnson at this point in favor of righty Cole Sulser '12.
The decision proved to be a good one.
Sulser came in and struck out Sills to end the inning. He then proceeded to retire all 10 batters he faced in a perfect 3.1 innings of work, improving to 5-0. Sulser has been able to pitch for extended periods out of the pen, and against the Crusaders, he turned in a nearly flawless performance before giving way to closer Ryan Smith '11.
"He threw 37 pitches to get 10 outs," Whalen said. "He mowed out there."
Sulser ranks second on the team with a 3.66 ERA and is holding opposing batters to a .233 average, by far the lowest on the team.
"I feel my fastball's been working really well for me this year," Sulser said. "I've been able to keep it down. Second of all, a lot of credit has to go to my catchers. They're doing a great job of calling pitches behind the plate."
Onstott doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to tack on an insurance run for the Big Green. After Sulser worked his magic, Smith pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save of the season.
The save was the 21st of Smith's career, extending his Ivy League record.
Dartmouth returns to the diamond this weekend for a four-game series against Yale University. The Big Green will play a pair of doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday, with the first game of each scheduled for noon at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.
