In the home opener against Williams (9-8-1, 2-1 NESCAC), Dartmouth jumped out to a 5-0 first inning lead off of home runs from three first-year players. In his first at-bat since his late game heroics against Princeton University last weekend, Chris O'Dowd '13 hit a solo shot to deep left field.
After walks by Brett Gardner '10 and Jeff Onstott '11, Ennis Coble '13 hit one over the right field fence to make the score 4-0 in favor of Dartmouth. Not to be outdone by his classmates, Zack Bellenger '13 went back-to-back with Coble, clubbing his first collegiate home run.
Bellenger's homer was the start to his 5-5 day that included two runs scored and two RBIs. Coble was just as good, driving in four runs and scoring two while going 3-4 at the plate.
Williams manager Bill Barrale chose not to send his starter, Harry Marino, back to the mound for the second inning, instead relying upon his bullpen. Knocking the starter out early has been a pattern for Dartmouth this season, and on Wednesday, none of Williams' five relievers were able to stop the Big Green's hot bats.
The Eph's mounted a comeback, however, and aided by a homer from rightfielder Pat Barren Williams was only behind by two entering the bottom of the third. Dartmouth made two quick outs, but Coble and Bellenger were able to score as a result of throwing errors before the end of the inning.
In the fourth inning, another Ephs' error, a ground-out by Joe Sclafani '12 and a triple from Onstott plated three runs for the Big Green, breaking the game wide open and putting Dartmouth ahead 10-3.
Max Langford '12 (1-0) went five innings for the win, giving up six hits and two earned runs. Dan Ternowchek '11 was also effective in three innings of relief, surrendering just one run.
On Thursday, Dartmouth found itself down early against Quinnipiac (3-19, 3-5 NEC), as starting pitcher Michael Johnson '13 gave up two runs in each of the first three innings. The Bobcats' Brian Monack was responsible for three of those runs, hitting a two-run homer to center field in the first inning and a solo shot to lead off the third.
Although Johnson struggled with his control early, a windy day at Red Rolfe Field helped balls carry better.
"There's always elements that you have to battle. It's part of the game," O'Dowd said.
With three home runs on Thursday, Quinnipiac hit as many as it had in its previous 21 games combined.
"It was certainly a windy day, but they hit balls hard," manager Bob Whalen said.
Down 6-2 entering the sixth, Dartmouth finally broke through against Quinnipiac starter George Dummar.
Jim Wren '10 led off with a walk, and after Bellenger reached on a dropped pop-up Jason Brooks '11 singled to center to load the bases. Sacrifice flies by Jake Carlson '12 and Coble made it 6-4 before O'Dowd homered in his third consecutive game to tie it.
All four runs in the inning were unearned.
"By the time we got to the late innings, we had really seen what the pitcher had, so we made adjustments," O'Dowd said.
O'Dowd raised his average on the season to .394. The rookie catcher had a bout with mononucleosis earlier in the season, but he has fully recovered and is performing at a high level, Whalen said.
"[O'Dowd]'s done well," Whalen said. "He's had really good at bats."
After Johnson departed the game at the end of the fifth inning, the bullpen combination of Ternowchek and Cole Sulser '12 (4-0) combined to shut out the Bobcats the rest of the way striking out a combined six batters in four innings.
That set the stage for the bottom of the ninth, where Onstott worked a one-out walk off of Monack. With a full count on the next hitter, David Turnbull '12, Whalen sent Onstott in motion with the pitch, which Turnbull clubbed to deep center field.
As the ball fell in, Onstott raced around the bases and came home with the winning run, earning Dartmouth a walk-off victory and making Turnbull the hero.
Onstott's 2-4 day raised his average to .375, good for second on the team. He has hit safely in 18 of the team's 20 games. The junior says he hasn't done anything different from last season.
"I wish I had the answer," Onstott said.
Dartmouth continues its homestand this weekend with two games against Columbia University on Saturday and two against the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday. Both doubleheaders begin at 12 p.m. at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.
