After losing the first game on a defensive error and bases-loaded walk, the Big Green's offense responded with 30 runs in the next three games, a positive performance that the team will look to carry into its final two league series matchups against Yale University and Harvard University.
"It was incredibly big to get three wins and a bit of separation," co-captain Joe Sclafani '12 said.
O'Dowd, who has a .227 season batting average, was able to take an off-speed pitch from Brown pitcher Taylor Wright, the Bears' top reliever, over the fence in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday.
"Everybody on the bench kind of jumped up, and we were willing it out," Sclafani said.
The home run, part of a four-run eighth inning, broke a 5-5 tie.
After Dartmouth had scored one run in the top of the second, Brown took a commanding lead with four runs in the third and fourth innings. The Bears chipped away at Dartmouth starting pitcher Michael Johnson '13 with four singles, a triple and a walk. Johnson pitched five innings total, striking out three batters and allowing four earned runs on six hits.
Down 4-1 in the fifth, the Big Green capitalized on Brown's porous defense and pitching errors to take a 5-4 lead.
With runners on second and third after two singles and a passed ball, Sclafani hit an inside-the-park home run. A poor fielding play by the left fielder and errant relay throw that escaped the Bears' second baseman allowed Sclafani to scamper home for the game-tying run.
"I just took a fastball and slapped it the other way," Sclafani said. "It was pretty big nonetheless because it tied up the game and let everybody take a sigh of relief."
The series of plays was a reversal of fortune for the Big Green, which lost the opening game of the series due to missed opportunities and inopportune defensive and pitching plays. In Saturday afternoon's matchup, second baseman Thomas Roulis '15 made a two-out error, pitcher Mike Dodakian '14 notched a hit batsman and the team gave up a bases-loaded walk to give Brown the win in extra innings.
Prior to the eighth inning, Dartmouth had managed to tie the game at 3-3 despite solid defensive play by Brown.
"You have to give those guys credit," Sclafani said. "We hit a ton of balls hard, but they had a ton of spectacular plays in the field to get out of jams."
Dartmouth starting pitcher Mitchell Horacek '14 tossed seven effective innings, mixing in his slider to fool the over-aggressive Brown hitters, en route to five strikeouts and only one walk.
"Going in, we knew that the field plays very small and the wind typically blows out, so we were just thinking about keeping the ball down," Horcaek said.
Horacek's big mistake came in the third, when he left a fastball up in the zone to Brown first baseman Cody Slaughter. Slaughter drilled the pitch for a center-field home run to give Brown an early 3-0 lead.
"That was just reinforcing the fact that you need to keep the ball down," Horacek said.
The Big Green offense answered Slaughter's home run with two small-ball runs in the fourth inning. Dustin Selzer '14 was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a single from Matt Robinson '15. Following a sacrifice bunt by O'Dowd, Nick Lombardi '15 hit a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 3-2. Lombardi later drove in the tying run in the sixth on an RBI single.
Both teams had missed opportunities in the seventh and eighth innings, and Dartmouth's pitching and defense in the eighth ultimately led to the loss.
"We definitely had the opportunity to win, it just didn't go our way," Horacek said.
In the middle two games of the series, the Big Green offense carried the team to a 9-5 win on Saturday and 12-1 win on Sunday.
"We got off to a slow start in the morning but our bats really woke up in the second game," Horacek said.
On Saturday, former Ivy League player of the week Adam Frank '15 gave up three runs in five innings, at times struggling against the eager Bears lineup.
"I don't think I was throwing as hard and as accurate as I wanted to, but the change-up was there, so it was a good pitch to get strikes," Frank said.
The Bears hitters repeatedly fouled off pitches, routinely forcing Dartmouth pitchers to throw eight or 10 pitches per at-bat, according to Frank.
"It was to the point where it was kind of frustrating, but it forced us to make our pitches," Frank said.
Dartmouth, down 5-2 after six innings, scored a combined seven runs in the seventh and eight innings to salvage a 1-1 split of Saturday's games. Sclafani's two-run home run cut the deficit to 5-4, and Selzer's third home run of the season tied the score at 5-5 in the eighth.
"We stuck to our approach and had quality at bats and did what we were supposed to do," Sclafani said.
The Big Green subsequently took the lead on a series of singles and infield hits. The runs were a result of the Big Green's ability to wear down the Bears' pitchers, forcing the team to lean on their shallow bullpen, according to Sclafani.
In the third game of the series, Dartmouth continued its offensive success and jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the first three innings.
"We got timely hits, but a lot of it was set up by the fact that they were putting us on base," Sclafani said.
The Big Green finished with 10 walks and eight hits. Dartmouth starting pitcher Kyle Hunter '13 pitched a complete game, allowing only one earned run on six hits while striking out four.
Dartmouth next takes the field against the University of Hartford this Wednesday, before hosting Yale University (8-26-1, 2-10 Ivy) for a weekend four-game series at Red Rolfe Field.
"These weekends are always tough, and it's tough to beat a team four times in two days," Sclafani said. "We just have to play our baseball, and we'll end up on top."
