The Dartmouth baseball team seized control of the Ivy League's Rolfe Division by sweeping a pair of midweek games against Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Tuesday and Wednesday.
After splitting two games with Brown (12-27, 9-7 Ivy) on Saturday, Sunday's doubleheader was rained out, forcing the two teams to make up the games this week.
Dartmouth (21-13, 11-5 Ivy) will now take a two-game division lead into its final series of the regular season a four game home-and-home set with Harvard University that begins tomorrow in Cambridge, Mass.
Should the Big Green advance, it will likely face Columbia University in the Ivy League Championship Series. The Lions sport a two-game lead atop the Gehrig Division entering their final series against the University of Pennsylvania.
Even though the games against Brown had been rescheduled, the wet and windy conditions still proved to be less than ideal baseball conditions.
"We haven't played a game like that with the wind all season," manager Bob Whalen said.
In Tuesday's game, Dartmouth used two three-run innings to secure an 8-4 victory behind the pitching of starter Kyle Hendricks '12.
Brown came out hitting, scoring in each of the first four innings, but the Big Green got on the board in the second with three runs of its own.
After Jeff Onstott '11 drew a leadoff walk, Ennis Coble '13 hit a double to left, putting runners on second and third for Jason Brooks '11. Brooks slapped a single to center field, driving in two runs and putting Dartmouth on top.
Later in the inning, with two outs and Brett Gardner '10 and Bellenger on first and third, respectively, Whalen called for a double steal that the Big Green executed perfectly. Both runners were safe, putting Dartmouth ahead, 3-1.
"Sometimes you're just looking for certain matchups," Whalen said. "Their catcher did a good job, but we felt that they were going to have to make two perfect throws in order to execute."
The Bears made it 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the second, and a home run from leftfielder Pete Greskoff tied the game at three after three innings.
Dartmouth immediately responded in the fourth inning, as Coble went back to fundamentals and was able to manufacture a run. He worked a leadoff walk and went from first to third when Brooks singled to left field, eventually scoring on a wild pitch.
An infield single from Jake Carlson '12 allowed Brooks to score, before Chris O'Dowd '13 drew a bases-loaded walk, giving Dartmouth a 6-3 lead that it would not relinquish.
Hendricks went 5.2 solid innings for the win, surrendering four runs before giving way to Cole Sulser '12 in the sixth.
In Wednesday's game, the Big Green scored in seven of nine innings, wining a slugfest, 13-10.
Starter Kyle Hunter '13 made it 4.2 innings before being lifted in favor of Sulser. He departed with a 6-3 lead.
"He did what we needed him to do," Whalen said. "He needed to get us into the fifth inning."
Though Sulser had a rare bad outing surrendering three runs in 1.2 innings he earned the win to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Several Dartmouth players had notable days at the plate, including Joe Sclafani '12, who went 3-6 with two runs scored, and O'Dowd, who went 2-4 with two walks and two runs scored.
Particularly impressive was the play of Bellenger, who reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-3 with three runs scored and a home run.
"We've been putting a lot practice time in on hitting," he said. "We started to find some holes against Brown."
Though the Big Green allowed the Bears to make it a 10-8 ballgame heading to the ninth inning, Dartmouth responded on offense.
The Big Green scored three runs in the top of the ninth, putting the Bears away for good.
Whalen was happy with the way his team performed, especially considering the adverse conditions.
"I told the kids that it would be a battle of persistence, and it was," Whalen said. "It's been a tough stretch."
Dartmouth traveled to Providence for two games on Saturday, returned to Hanover for a day before going down to Brown for two cold and rainy games on two consecutive days.
"[The division] is ours to win or lose," Dartmouth third baseman Zack Bellenger '13 said.
Dartmouth closes out the regular season with a series against Harvard this weekend. The Big Green will face the Crimson for two games in Cambridge on Saturday before returning to Hanover for the final two games on Sunday.
