"We feel really good about today's game," Joe Sclafani '12 said. "We were excited about the opportunity to play a really good opponent in Boston College. The outcome was fantastic." The outlook for the day was not promising, however, after Boston College began the game with an explosive four-run inning. Fortunately, the Big Green managed to narrow the deficit to just one in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three runs using small ball.
Dartmouth started off its offensive rally with singles from Sclafani and Sam Bean '11, followed by a Chris O'Dowd '13 walk to load the bases. Ennis Coble '13 put the Big Green on the scoreboard with a single up the middle, scoring Sclafani. Jeff Onstott '11 popped up to the infield but got the RBI, as the out allowed Bean to score. Jake Carlson '12 finished off the rally with a double to right center to bring in O'Dowd.
"I don't think anyone was really concerned at all [about Boston College's first inning]," Sclafani said. "We knew coming in that they would be a very good team and their first inning just showed that. We took it as a challenge to see if we could bounce back after a slow start. Nobody on this team really loses their confidence in each other. It's pretty special."
The Eagles came back to score another run in the next inning, bringing the score to 5-3, a lead that held until the fourth.
Dartmouth brought the deficit back to one when Carlson singled up the middle and later scored on a Sclafani sac fly. The Eagles and the Big Green traded runs once more when Boston College scored in the fifth and Brandon Parks '11 homered down the right field line in the sixth to make the score 6-5.
"There wasn't really any doubt that we would make a strong push to come back," Parks said.
Up until the sixth inning, the Big Green had stayed close on the heels of the Eagles. After Boston College scored four runs in the seventh, however, it looked like Dartmouth might have been put away for good.
The Big Green began chipping away at the five-run deficit that same inning, scoring two runs. O'Dowd started off the bottom of the seventh with a double to center and scored off of Coble's triple down the right field line. Onstott followed with a single to right field, scoring Coble.
Down 10-7 in the bottom of the eighth, the Big Green started off its most impressive offensive sequence of the day, scoring eight runs and making it through the entire batting order.
With one out, Sclafani started the rally by doubling to right field. Bean and O'Dowd then drew walks to load the bases. After an Eagle pitching change, Dustin Selzer '14 hit a ball to third with double-play potential. The Boston College third baseman made a poor throw, and all runners were safe while Sclafani scored.
The Eagle error seemed to energize the Dartmouth squad, and the inning only took off from there. Coble continued the rally with a single to right center that scored O'Dowd and Bean. Onstott, Carlson and Parks followed with singles of their own to score three more. Sclafani tripled to right to score the final two runs of the inning, bringing the total to eight.
Boston College was unable to respond in the next inning, sealing the win for the Big Green.
"We pride ourselves on resilience and finding a way to win late in games," O'Dowd said. "Today was just another example of that. Great teams find a way to make adjustments within every game, and our ability to come from behind is ultimately a reflection of our ability to make adjustments."
The Big Green is back in action on Wednesday, visiting College of the Holy Cross. Dartmouth resumes its Ivy season this Saturday against Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
