The 6-4 and 8-1 victories over Columbia (11-11, 2-2 Ivy) represented a rematch of last year's Ivy League Championship, in which the Big Green (12-6, 2-2 Ivy) defeated the Lions in a three-game series. Dartmouth's 2-3 and 14-10 losses to Penn (12-10, 4-0 Ivy) resulted in the Big Green's first series sweep since 2007, when it fell to Brown University.
"The two games Saturday were indicative of how we can play and how we expect to play," Sam Bean '11 said. "[Sunday], however, showed the other end of the spectrum of our team's possibilities. We neither pitched nor hit well enough to win and just didn't play well enough to win."
Bean said Dartmouth will likely "follow the path of the first two games against Columbia" for the remainder of the season.
"I believe we have the most talent in the League and I still expect us to win our division and host the Ivy Championship," he said.
The Big Green trailed 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning of the season opener, following two first-inning home runs by Chris O'Dowd '13 and Joe Sclafani '12. Dartmouth began a one-out rally, however, when Bean drew a walk. O'Dowd then singled to move Bean into scoring position.
The Lions called for a pitching change in attempts to stop the rally, before Jason Brooks '11 nailed the first pitch for a go-ahead, three-run home run. Kyle Hunter '13 finished a seven-inning complete game on the mound, allowing four runs and registering three strikeouts.
"We had a lot of confidence going in after defeating Columbia for the League title last year but I think beating them in the fashion that we did certainly gave us a boost," Bean said. "Winning in such a dramatic fashion gave us a lot of energy and excitement and really took the wind out of Columbia's sails."
The second game against the Lions again began with an O'Dowd homer. His two-run shot put the Big Green up, 2-0, in the first.
Dartmouth extended its lead to four in the third inning, when O'Dowd and Bean scored. The Big Green plated two more runs in the fourth, off a Sclafani RBI single and a fielder's choice from Bean. Dustin Selzer '14 doubled in the fifth to bring Jeff Onstott '11 home, while Sclafani tripled in the sixth and was brought home by a Bean sac-fly. On the mound, Cole Sulser '12 shut down the Lions, giving up just four hits, while striking out seven in 7.2 innings.
"We came out firing on all cylinders in the second game while Columbia seemed to still be struggling to get past the let-down from the previous game," Bean said. "Combine this with the fact that they were facing [Sulser] and they were unable to recover from the early lead we took in the later innings."
The Big Green had less success in its first game against Penn, however.
Dartmouth which recorded only three hits in the game trailed by three runs in the last inning. With two outs and one man on, Jake Carlson '12 homered to bring the Quaker lead to just one. Dartmouth, however, was unable to continue the rally. Kyle Hendricks '12 recorded the loss, despite pitching six innings, allowing just five hits and registering six strikeouts.
"The pitcher for Penn did a great job against us in the first game today," Brooks said in an email to The Dartmouth. "He was able to throw three pitches for strikes while working both sides of the plate effectively."
In the second game of the series, the Quakers took advantage of rookie pitcher Mitch Horacek '14 and jumped out to a six-run lead in the first inning. Onstott attempted to jumpstart the Big Green offense in the second inning with a solo homerun to center. Dartmouth began to look alive in the third, putting up five runs in the inning and narrowing the score to 7-6.
Sclafani started the inning by drawing a walk. A catcher's interference put O'Dowd on base, and the Quakers followed with another error to bring Sclafani home. Hits from Onstott, Coble and Selzer finished up the inning.
Dartmouth followed up in the fourth, scoring three runs to take a 9-7 lead. Sclafani led with a single, before Brooks hit a fly ball with runners on the corners that was dropped by a Quaker outfielder, scoring Sclafani. With two outs and two men on, Coble doubled again to plate two more runs.
In the bottom of the fourth, Horacek was replaced by Mike Dodakian '14 with two men on and two outs. Dodakian was able to get out of the inning with a pop fly.
Two innings later, however, the young pitcher found himself in a similar situation and was unable to recover. He finished the inning after allowing four more Quaker runs, giving Penn an 11-10 lead.
The Quakers added three more runs in the eighth inning.
"I think we might have gone into the games against Penn a little over-confident, although we always would have gone into the games against Penn confidently," Bean said. "Either way I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference because we didn't lose because of a lack of focus, we lost because we were not the better team today."
Dartmouth will next travel to play Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
