The middle of the Big Green lineup produced clutch hits throughout the weekend. Clean-up batter Dustin Selzer '14 hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning during the second game on Friday to lead the Big Green to a 5-4 win. Selzer then added a game-winning, two-run home run in Saturday's first game, giving Dartmouth a 2-0 victory. Jeff Keller '14, hitting fifth in the lineup behind Selzer, raised his season average to .393, thanks in part to a home run in the series finale to propel the Big Green offense to victory.
"You need [Selzer and Keller] to come through to give you a foundation in the middle of your lineup," head coach Bob Whalen said. "When we're hitting like that, it allows us to have some pretty good length."
All four Dartmouth pitchers delivered quality starts, including Kyle Hunter '13, who pitched a complete-game shutout in Saturday's first game.
"A big part of the wins was the pitching staff," Selzer said. "They went out there and threw four great games."
Hunter needed only one hour and 13 minutes to pitch all seven frames, throwing just 67 pitches and allowing three hits. The win was Hunter's first career shutout.
"From the beginning of the year, he was our ace," co-captain Joe Sclafani '12 said. "He's getting ahead of hitters and now throwing all three pitches for strikes."
Mitch Horacek '14 earned the win in the first game on Friday by giving up only three runs over 6 1/3 innings of work. Closer Thomas Olson '15 recorded the final two outs of the game to earn the save. Olson also pitched in relief in the second game of the day, throwing 3 2/3 innings of shutout baseball to secure the win.
Dartmouth's defense backed up the pitching staff, playing well throughout the four games. The Big Green committed three total errors on defense over the weekend.
"I thought we played very good defense and made them get a lot of good hits," Whalen said.
In the series finale, the Big Green capitalized on three errors by the Bulldogs (9-30-1, 2-14 Ivy) to jump out to an early 5-1 lead.
After starting pitcher Michael Johnson '13 surrendered a bases-clearing double following an error by Sclafani, the offense again responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth. The Big Green added two more runs in the eighth to win, 8-4.
"That combination, throwing strikes, playing good defense, getting good hits with guys on base, I'll take that recipe any time," Whalen said.
In the series opener, Dartmouth fell behind 1-0 before a bases-loaded single by Chris O'Dowd '13 and a RBI by Selzer gave the Big Green a 3-1 lead.
"I think O'Dowd had a good weekend," Whalen said. "His at-bats have gotten better every game, [and] he's really hitting some balls hard,"
After Yale tied the game at 3-3, designated hitter Ennis Coble '13 came around to score thanks to small-ball execution from Nick Lombardi '15 and Jake Carlson '12. Coble singled to start the inning before a sacrifice bunt by Lombardi moved him to second base. After a ground out by David Turnbull '12 put Coble on third, Carlson singled up the middle to drive in the eventual game-winning run.
Whalen said O'Dowd's recent offensive success has taken some pressure off of Coble.
"[We] have put Coble where we sort of always wanted him to be because he's such a versatile player," Whalen said. "It just allows us some length in our lineup,"
After the four-game sweep, the Big Green has widened its Red Rolfe division lead to four games over second-place Harvard University (11-27, 7-9 Ivy). Cornell University holds a two-game lead over Dartmouth for the best overall record in the Ivy League.
"We're hitting our stride, and it's great to see," Sclafani said. "With the non-conference schedule we've played, it's something you can kind of expect because the quality of opponent we were playing early on was just incredible, and we've been building on it."
The series against Yale was moved up one day due to expected inclement weather. The team will receive a day off before playing six games in six days, including two non-conference mid-week contests before a four-game series against Harvard.
"It made it easier in terms of having tomorrow off so we're more prepared for the week," Whalen said.
It is still unclear who will start the second mid-week game. The Big Green normally sends Louis Concato '14 to the mound for mid-week non-conference games, but the team will need to look for a second starter this week.
"It caught us on a year where our numbers are low, partly by injury and partly by the draft," Whalen said.
If the Big Green wins at least one game against Harvard, it will clinch the Red Rolfe division title and the automatic birth for the Ivy League Championship Series.
Selzer stressed that the team still needs to take the upcoming slate of games one matchup at a time.
"We still have two big mid-week games that we have to worry about before we even get there, so there's a lot of work to be done," he said.
