Dartmouth women's softball team made its season debut in Florida this weekend, winning two of five games in the Florida Gulf Coast Stevens Industries Tournament. The tournament marked the first time the team has played together in a competitive game this season.
"This was a really good weekend for us," head coach Rachel Hanson said. "We made so much progress. The team that played the first game is a totally different team than the one that played in the last game. That was really what I wanted to see. We grew and matured and demonstrated the ability to improve."
The Big Green (2-3) under the direction of Hanson, who is in her first year coaching the Big Green dropped its first two games of the season, losing to St. Francis University, 13-4, and against Colgate University, 6-1, on Friday. Dartmouth rebounded on Saturday and split its games, beating the University of Tennessee, Martin, 5-4, and losing to tournament host Florida Gulf Coast University, 6-2.
The Big Green finished its road trip with a 7-5 win in a rematch against Colgate (2-3).
"I think this weekend was a great experience," Noelle Ramirez '13 said. "None of us had played together in a real game and we hadn't had a chance to play on dirt yet this season. It brought us closer, gave us a chance to get to know our coaching staff. We've been waiting for this a chance to get out on the field."
Dartmouth started strong in its first game, putting up a run in the first inning when Kat Hicks '12 drove Audrey Kolodziej '11 in on a single to left field. St. Francis (3-15) took the lead, however, scoring two runs in both the second and third innings.
The Big Green cut the lead to two when Hillary Hubert '13 scored on an infield single from Britta McOmber '14. Despite a rally late in the sixth inning when Dartmouth scored two runs the Big Green was not able to overcome the 13 runs that the Red Flash put up, six of which came in the top of the sixth inning.
Pitcher Evan Gray '13 went four and one-third innings, recording five strikeouts, before Hicks came in to relieve her. Hicks finished the game with two strikeouts in one and two-thirds innings.
The Big Green was able to take a quick lead in its first game against Colgate, scoring in the bottom of the second. Molly Khalil '12 tied the game in the top of the fourth, although Ramirez got caught in a rundown. Colgate took the lead by scoring in the bottom of the fourth and the Raiders added four runs in the sixth inning to earn them a victory. Hillary Barker '12 pitched five and two-thirds innings with three strikeouts before Morgan Wharton '13 replaced her in the sixth.
"The first day was a little rough," Gray said. "We hadn't been on dirt at all and it was our first day out. I think we were a little nervous those first two games since we hadn't played in so long and we had never played together as a team."
The Big Green secured its first win of the season on Saturday, besting Tennessee (10-8). Two unearned runs gave the Skyhawks an early lead and Tennessee extended its lead again in the next inning after three consecutive singles.
Dartmouth trailed by three runs going into the fifth inning, but Ramirez quickly reversed the Big Green's lagging score. With the bases loaded, Ramirez hit Dartmouth's first grand slam of the season over the left-field wall. Barker pitched six and one-third innings for the team, allowing three runs and registering three strikeouts.
Despite its win earlier in the day, the Big Green was unable to transfer momentum to its night game against Florida Gulf Coast (9-12). The Eagles took an early lead, scoring two runs off a home run in the first inning. They extended their lead in the next inning with a solo home run over the left-field wall.
Dartmouth trailed by three going into the fourth, but was able to put up a run after Khalil's double scored Alexandra St. Romain '14. Khalil then scored on a single from Kara Curosh '14, closing the gap to just one run. A sacrifice fly in the fifth gave Florida Gulf Coast a two run lead, which was extended to four runs after the sixth.
Gray pitched the whole game, striking out three players while giving up four earned runs.
The Big Green faced Colgate again in its final game of the tournament. Dartmouth took a lead in the second inning with scores from St. Romain and Khalil off of RBIs from McOmber and Jonele Conceicao '14.
The Raiders bounced back by scoring four runs in the bottom of the second. The Big Green responded in the next inning, however, scoring four runs before scoring again an inning later.
Barker pitched six innings for Dartmouth, giving up five runs and recording five strikeouts. Gray came in to pitch the seventh inning and ended the game with three consecutive strikeouts.
The Big Green will continue to practice for its upcoming games during spring break, using the weekend's games as a measuring stick for where the team must improve, Hanson said.
"We will continue to work on growing as a team," she said. "Seeing us actually playing showed us where we have our faults. The good thing about this team is that there is no quit in them. They are already ready to get back to work and improve on the things that we had trouble with this weekend. It bodes well for the rest of the season."
Dartmouth will return to action on March 17 during its spring break trip to Florida, playing in the University of South Florida Invitational.
