The Dartmouth men's baseball team continued its run of the Ivy League gauntlet by sweeping Cornell University and Princeton University on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Big Green (17-6, 6-2 Ivy) captured a 2-1 extra inning victory over the Big Red (4-20, 2-6 Ivy) to start the weekend and followed with a 4-2 win later that afternoon. Dartmouth pulled out another extra-inning triumph on Sunday, beating the Tigers (12-15, 6-2 Ivy), 4-3, before finishing the weekend with a 5-2 victory.
The wins moved Dartmouth to first place in the Red Rolfe Division.
"This was a really big weekend for us," Sam Bean '11 said. "By winning all four games, we have a two-game lead in our division and are even with both Princeton and Penn in terms of hosting the Ivy Championship series, should we make it. It was also a huge win for our confidence. We found ways to win in games where our bats struggled and we competed in ways that we didn't last Sunday."
In the low-scoring opener, both Dartmouth and Cornell found themselves struggling to get hits against good pitching. Neither team got on the board until the bottom of the sixth, when the Big Green was able to take a 1-0 lead when Joe Sclafani '12 drew a walk. Bean followed with a single through the right side to advance him to third and Chris O'Dowd '13 grounded out to first, allowing Sclafani to score.
Dartmouth's lead was short-lived, however, as Cornell responded in the next inning with a run to tie up the game.
Neither team made any more offensive headway, and the game was forced into extra innings. With two outs in the top of the 10th, the Big Red inched ahead with a one-run shot to right-center field.
The Big Green did not falter, however, and with one out, Jake Carlson '12 drew a walk before Sclafani knocked a triple to right-center to score him for the tying run. With the go-ahead run on third, the Big Red intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases. Despite Cornell's preparation, Jason Brooks '11 drove in the winning run with a hit to left field to end the game.
On the circle, Kyle Hunter '13 pitched nine innings, allowing only five hits and one run before getting pulled.
"There's always a little bit of nervousness [going into extra innings], but because we have been in difficult situations before, our team was able to stay calm and just put together a few good at-bats," Sclafani said. "It was a great win."
The second game against Cornell featured an impressive outing from Cole Sulser '12, who pitched the entire game, recording 13 strikeouts and allowing only one earned run to lead the team to a 4-2 win. Sulser's victory was his 11th straight.
Dartmouth got its offense started in the third inning when Carlson singled and later scored on O'Dowd's two-out double. Cornell tied it up in the fifth, but the Big Green responded later that inning when David Turnbull '12 scored on another two-out double, this one coming from Bean. Ennis Coble '13 helped widen the gap in the eighth with a two-run triple, scoring Bean and O'Dowd to seal the win.
"We were happy about winning two games against Cornell, but we were just focused on winning the first game today," Sclafani said. "We were excited to play a quality team."
Dartmouth again found itself in a tight extra-innings contest during its first game against Princeton on Sunday.
The Big Green began with a run in the first inning, after Bean scored off of a Coble single to left. Princeton retaliated immediately in the next inning, however, to tie the score at one.
Dartmouth scored another run in the third after Sclafani scored on an error, only to see the Tigers tie it again in the fifth. Both the Tigers and the Big Green scored once in the eighth, with the Dartmouth run coming from Bean, who singled and then scored on an error. Finally, during the tenth inning, the Big Green was able to put the game away, with O'Dowd scoring on an RBI from Jeff Onstott '11.
On the mound, Kyle Hendricks '12 pitched eight innings, allowing eight hits and three runs. Ryan Smith '11 came away with the win, closing out the last inning.
"Even though we went into extra innings we all had a lot of confidence in our team and that we would come back," Sulser said. "We have a lot of great competitors that continue to perform well no matter what the situation and that was a big part of our success this weekend."
In the final game of the weekend, Dartmouth jumped out to an early three-run lead and never looked back.
With one out in the first inning, Bean, O'Dowd, Brooks and Coble all singled, with Bean and O'Dowd scoring. Ryan Toimil '14 was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Turnbull singled to shortstop to score Brooks.
Princeton could not muster much offense against the Big Green, scoring once in the fifth on a solo-shot to center and then again in the ninth using two singles and a fielder's choice.
Dartmouth had one more offensive rally in the seventh inning, tacking on two runs. After Carlson was hit by a pitch, he scored off a Sclafani double to left center. Sclafani then scored on a sac fly from Brooks. On the mound, lefty Mitch Horacek '14 pitched six innings and allowed one run on seven hits, recording five strikeouts. Mike Dodakian '14 and Smith came in for relief to finish out the game.
"Princeton came in undefeated in the League and we knew they were going to be a good team," Bean said. "We also knew that it was going to be very important to reassume the position of top team in the Ivies."
Dartmouth plays two non-conference games this week, facing Boston College on Tuesday and the College of the Holy Cross on Wednesday. The Big Green continues League play next weekend, when it will play a four-game series against Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
