Harvard (25-20, 17-3 Ivy) swept Dartmouth (13-26, 11-9 Ivy) in the four-game series.
"I think we just put way too much pressure on ourselves," co-captain Alyssa Parker '10 said.
The Big Green opened its final series of the season trailing Harvard by two games and needing to take three of four games from the Crimson in order to claim a share of the division crown.
The Dartmouth losses on Saturday gave Harvard a four-game lead with two games left to play, ending the Big Green's title chase.
In the opener, the Crimson came out blazing, jumping to a 4-0 lead in the first inning highlighted by a three-run shot from sophomore Whitney Shaw.
The situation would not improve for the Big Green for the rest of the day, as the Crimson starter Rachel Brown went to work and methodically broke down Dartmouth's lineup with almost unhittable pitches.
"We were gearing up to face more speed against Rachel Brown," Parker said. "We worked on laying off the rise ball and attacking her curve. I think we did a really good job adjusting to her pitches, but our hits just couldn't find holes."
A couple of scattered hits proved woefully inadequate for the Big Green, who could not summon its high powered offense to rally against Harvard's early advantage.
The Crimson would pound the visitors for five more runs, while Brown and reliever Margaux Black kept the Big Green off the scoreboard in six innings of work, leading to a 9-0 mercy-rule victory.
Game two saw much of the same from both teams, with Brown back on the mound for Harvard against a slumping Dartmouth lineup.
The Big Green soon found itself in an early hole again after the Crimson's Jennifer Francis recorded her fourth RBI of the day to power a three-run first inning for the home team.
Brown continued her dominance from the mound with another four shutout innings, while the Crimson lineup lit up Kat Hicks '12 and Evan Gray '13 in the fourth for four more runs, putting Harvard on the verge of its third division title in four years.
Dartmouth would delay the celebration, however, after a leadoff single from Nikki Yee '10 and a follow-up double from Kristen Costello '10 in the sixth finally had the Big Green's offense clicking.
On the cusp of a breakthrough, the Big Green offense spurted, with the sole run of the inning coming from a signle by Hillary Hubert '13 that drove in Yee.
"We are a good hitting team; we just couldn't get the clutch hits we needed," Parker said.
Dartmouth would muster one more hit, a single in the seventh from Leigha Clarkson '10, before Christy Autin '10 popped up to second base two outs later, ending a 7-1 Harvard rout.
Hicks and Gray had difficulty on the mound for the Big Green, giving up seven earned runs in game two while allowing 11 hits.
On Sunday, the Big Green looked to find a silver lining to the weekend by finishing its 2010 season campaign on a high note at home.
In the opening game, however, Harvard's bats were again relentless, chasing Hillary Barker '12 for two jacks in the third and seven total runs in four and two-thirds innings.
Dartmouth again could not fight fire with fire, as the Big Green offense stuttered against the Crimson's Julia Moore, with its only run of the game coming off of a solo home run from Clarkson in the sixth, en route to a 7-1 defeat.
In the nightcap, Dartmouth finally dusted off the cobwebs, jumping to its first lead of the series in the first inning behind a RBI double from Yee and a two-run shot from Clarkson. It was her second home run of the day.
"It definitely always helps a team's confidence when they score first, but regardless of the score, we always came out fighting," Parker said.
The Big Green nursed a 3-1 advantage heading into the top of the seventh, but Harvard would not waste its last three outs, leading off with a pair of doubles, and then a walk and a single, driving in two runs. A subsequent two-run shot from Shaw capped off a four-run rally.
With the tables suddenly turned, the Big Green bats had one last fight in them, as Autin hit a one-out single with runners on first and second, cutting the lead to one, before being thrown out at second.
Down to its last out with the tying run on third, Yee hit a line drive at the pitcher and reached on a Crimson error, driving in the tying run.
Harvard, however, would have the last laugh. The visitors responded in the next inning by moving a runner into scoring position off a sacrifice bunt, and then sending her home off of a Mari Zumbro single. The run proved to be the game-winner with the final score 6-5 and concluded a Crimson sweep of the four-game series.
