Sunday's doubleheader was postponed due to rain and has been tentatively rescheduled for Wednesday in Providence.
"This is our season," captain Rob Young '10 said of Wednesday's games against Saint Anselm. "If we can take a two game lead into that [season-ending] series against Harvard, it's huge."
Dartmouth currently controls its own destiny in conference play, but cannot afford to slip up if it wants to make its third straight trip to the Ivy League Championship Series.
Since Brown finishes its series with Yale University on Saturday, Dartmouth will enter Sunday's doubleheader against Harvard University knowing exactly what it must do to clinch the division.
Against Brown in Saturday's first game Dartmouth fell behind early before rallying to score four runs in the seventh inning, resulting in a dramatic 7-6 victory.
Young took the mound for the Big Green and, despite facing control issues, kept Dartmouth close enough to mount its seventh inning comeback. Although Young gave up five earned runs in six innings, four of those came on one swing, when Bears catcher Matt Colantonio hit a grand slam over the left-field fence.
"I was having trouble locating my fastball," Young said. "But you take [the grand slam] away, I was pretty happy with [my start]."
Control problems have been rare for Big Green pitchers this season; entering the weekend Dartmouth led Division I in fewest walks per nine innings, surrendering an average of just 1.61.
The Dartmouth defense has been almost as effective, ranking 20th in the nation with a .974 fielding percentage.
"One of coach [Bob] Whalen's personal philosophies is to throw strikes and play defense well," shortstop Joe Sclafani '12 said. "Ive never been on a team that's been this good defensively."
Dartmouth faced a 5-3 deficit entering the seventh inning when Jim Wren '10 drew a leadoff walk. Jeff Onstott '11 flied out, but Ennis Coble '13 and Zack Bellenger '13 both were allowed to reach on errors.
Instead of getting two outs and a victory, Brown pitcher Matthew Kimball instead faced Ezra Josephson '10 with one out and the bases loaded. Josephson grounded out but scored the runner from third, bringing the score to 5-4.
With two outs and runners on second and third, Brett Gardner '10 hit a clutch single to left to give Dartmouth a 6-5 lead. Jake Carlson '12 followed with a single of his own to tack on an insurance run and give Dartmouth a 7-5 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Closer Ryan Smith '11 nailed down his fifth save of the season, giving Dartmouth the crucial comeback win.
"[Smith] is great," Sclafani said. "He never really gets rattled. He just does a really fantastic job of attacking hitters right away."
Smith is holding opposing batters to just a .241 average and has posted a 3.07 ERA in a team-high 12 appearances.
"Obviously I go out wanting to pitch all seven innings," Young said. "But knowing that we've got [Smith] in the bullpen helps the starters out a lot."
In game two, Dartmouth again scored four times in the final inning, but this time it was not enough, as Brown won 9-5.
Starter Ben Murray '10 was roughed up by the Bears, allowing eight runs and 10 hits over five innings. Murray also surrendered three home runs on the day. Although Max Langford '12 was effective in three innings of relief, by the time Murray exited, the damage had been done.
Brown scored two runs in each of the first two innings before using a four-run fifth to break the game open and take a 9-1 lead.
Dartmouth was also on the receiving end of a strong performance from opposing pitcher Will Weidig, who went eight strong innings for the win.
Weidig allowed just three earned runs and had three 1-2-3 innings on the day.
Although a four-run ninth which included a homer from Jason Brooks '11 made the final score more respectable, Brown's early lead was too much for the Big Green to overcome in the end.
Manager Bob Whalen could not be reached for comment.
Dartmouth concludes its series with Brown on Wednesday in Providence before rounding out the regular season with a weekend home-and-home series against Harvard University.
