Dartmouth was successful in all phases of the game against Penn and backed up strong pitching performances with solid hitting. The Big Green won the games by scores of 6-3 and 11-2.
Dartmouth jumped out to an early lead in the first game, scoring a run in the bottom of the first after a sacrifice fly from Thomas Roulis '15 scored captain Joe Sclafani '12, who was on third after leading the game off with a triple. The triple was the 17th of Sclafani's career, breaking a Dartmouth record that had stood for 29 years.
Penn fought back and managed to build a 3-1 lead by the top of the fourth. The Dartmouth bats responded by scoring two in the bottom half of the inning on a Sclafani home run to left field to tie the score at three apiece.
Dartmouth starter Mitch Horacek '14 shut down the Penn offense over the last three innings, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. In seven innings of work, Horacek gave up six hits and struck out seven while walking only two.
With the Penn offense stalled, it was only a matter of time before the Big Green hitters came through and regained the lead. The team took advantage of an opportunity in the bottom of the sixth when a dropped third strike and an error put the first two men of the inning on base. Sclafani tallied an RBI single for his third hit of the day, and Roulis singled home two runs to add more insurance.
While the first game was a back-and-forth battle, the second game of the double-header was a solid rout.
The Big Green jumped ahead early again, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first on a double to left-center by Jeff Keller '14, and the lead was never in jeopardy for the rest of the game.
In the fourth, Dartmouth grabbed two more runs on a Nick Lombardi '15 shot to left field for his first home run of his collegiate career. The Big Green added three more the next inning, highlighted by a two-run double from first baseman Dustin Selzer '14.
If that wasn't enough, the Big Green added another four runs in the bottom of the seventh, giving the team an 11-0 lead. The patience of the Dartmouth hitters paid off as the first three of the inning walked to load the bases for Lombardi, who drove in two with an RBI double to left-center. Sclafani later singled home another run, and Ennis Coble '13 rounded out the scoring when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Starting pitcher and last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week Adam Frank '15 said he was impressed with the variety of ways in which his team was able to scrape runs together.
"Not only did they get a lot of hits through for themselves, but they knew what situations needed a sacrifice hit in order to move runners," Frank said. "That is one of the great things about our team, we are all unselfish and want the best for each other."
Three runs were all that Frank would need. The freshman pitched seven shutout innings before giving up two runs in the eighth when the game was safely out of reach.
In his first seven innings of work, Frank allowed only two hits, both in the third, and got out of the second-and-third jam with no outs thanks to an impressive leaping catch in center field by Jake Carlson '12.
Frank credited much of his success on the day to his ability to mix his pitches, keeping the Penn hitters guessing.
"No pitch was particularly dominant, but I was able to use all three of them [fastball, change-up, and curveball] to keep the Penn batters off-balance," he said.
It is much easier to pitch with a lead, and Frank said he was appreciative of the relaxation offered by his hitters' success.
"Pitching with a lead is a lot easier than pitching in a 0-0 ball game because you know you have some breathing room if a runner gets on base," he said.
After Frank was lifted, Mike Dodakian '14 came in and recorded the final five outs of the game with few issues, freezing the last batter on a called third strike to finish the victory.
Every Big Green batter reached base at least twice in the second game while collecting a season-high 11 walks in addition to 11 hits.
Sclafani led the team overall, going 5-for-8 on the day with four runs scored and four RBI.
The first game on Sunday saw a disappointing result for the Big Green, as the team dropped the opener of its doubleheader against Columbia, 4-3, the Big Green's first home loss in almost two years.
"I think the media and the fans made a bigger deal about it than we did," Sclafani said. "Playing at home always gives us an incredible amount of confidence because of the overall success we have had here since the park reopened four years ago. The way we look at it is that we started another streak this afternoon."
The game began as a pitcher's duel both teams were held hitless through the first three innings. The Lions got on the board in the fifth and sixth, building a 4-0 lead heading into the home half of the seventh.
Down to its last at-bat, the Big Green refused to give up, stringing a set of singles together that chased Columbia's starting pitcher from the game and brought the score to 4-3. Columbia managed to work out of the jam and stranded the tying run on third, handing the Big Green its fourth league loss of the season.
"It was great to see our team have a little bit of fight and mental toughness and resilience," Sclafani said. "We just worked towards getting one guy on at a time and came really close to pulling it out."
The second game against Columbia proved to be another offensive explosion for the Big Green, with the team cruising to an 11-3 victory.
The teams traded blows in the third, but Dartmouth came out ahead, 2-1, thanks to another Sclafani triple.
After giving up a two-run home run in the top of the fifth, the Big Green regained the lead for good on a Selzer grand slam to left-center. Dartmouth tacked on two more runs in the seventh when Selzer hit another home run, this one a solo shot to left. Selzer added two more insurance runs in the eighth on a double to center.
The offensive hero of the second game, Selzer went 3-for-5 with seven RBI and two runs scored, making him the first player on the team to drive in more than four runs in a game this season.
Michael Johnson '13 was strong on the hill for the Big Green, giving up three runs over six innings of work while striking out an impressive 10 Columbia batters. Johnson was relieved by Max Langford '12, who pitched a clean three innings while surrendering only one hit.
The win kept Dartmouth atop the Red Rolfe Division heading into next week, when Ivy League division play begins.
This Wednesday, the Big Green has a home game against the College of the Holy Cross at 3:30 p.m. before heading off on a weekend road trip to Brown University for a four-game set.
