The softball team won an explosive doubleheader against Harvard University Monday, earning a spot in the Ivy League Championship Series against the University of Pennsylvania. After splitting Sunday’s doubleheader in Hanover, the team traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, knowing that a two-game sweep would put it through to the championship. Dartmouth (29-16, 18-2 Ivy) came through under pressure, as the offense exploded for 8-2 and 9-2 wins against the Crimson (28-15, 14-3 Ivy) to clinch the North Division and the right to host Penn (18-19, 13-6 Ivy) next weekend in a best-of-three series.“I’m very proud of this team,” head coach Rachel Hanson said. “They fought with their backs against the wall and they competed every pitch.”
Thanks to great pitching by Harvard junior Laura Ricciardone, the Big Green was held to just two runs on Sunday in Hanover. The team did not have to wait long to surpass that, however, as it exploded for three runs on three hits in the top of the first against the Harvard junior on Monday. Ricciardone would only last two innings in the contest before being pulled.
“We kept the line-up the same. We believed in the hitters,” Hanson said. “The girls believed in themselves. We went through a little bit of a silent stretch, but they kept competing and believed they would hit the ball and they certainly did so today.”
The outstanding run support eased the task of Kristen Rumley ’15, who picked up her 16th win of the season. Rumley pitched six innings and allowed just five hits and two runs before being relieved in the final inning by Morgan McCalmon ’16, who struck out two of four Harvard batters.
Kara Curosh ’14, Chloe Madill ’17 and McCalmon were responsible for all eight runs and eight of Dartmouth’s 10 hits. Karen Chaw ’17 also contributed at the plate, picking up two RBIs.
“We could’ve easily given up after losing the first game on Sunday, but we didn’t and we battled back to win,” Curosh said.
Dartmouth started with a three-run first inning after McCalmon’s single to right field scored Curosh. Madill scored on an error before McCalmon made the game 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by Chaw.
Rumley continued to silence the Crimson, allowing only two base runners in the first four innings, neither of whom reached second base.
Dartmouth continued to pile on the runs, leading the game 6-0 by the time Harvard picked up its first run in the bottom of the sixth. An RBI double by Chaw in the fourth scored McCalmon and a pair of solo shots by McCalmon and Madill pushed the Big Green lead to six after five and a half innings of play.
A double by Crimson junior Katherine Lantz plated junior Andrea Del Conte in the bottom of the sixth. Lantz reached home as well on a double by junior Emily Gusse to cut the score to 6-2.
Curosh and Madill scored in the top of the seventh to make it 8-2 before McCalmon ended the game, striking out the first two Harvard batters and catching a line drive from Del Conte for the final out.
Game two started in a similar manner to the first. Ricciardone did not start in the circle, as freshman Taylor Cabe got the starting nod. She did not fare much better than Ricciardone did, however, as Katie McEachern ’16 put the 12th pitch of the game over the left-centerfield fence to give the Big Green an early 2-0 lead.
McCalmon got the start for Dartmouth and came out firing, keeping the Crimson offense at bay for the first four and two-thirds innings before being replaced by Rumley, who closed the game with a four-out save.
A home run by Maddie Damore ’17 in the top of the second pushed the Big Green lead to three, where it stayed until the top of the fifth. Curosh led off the inning with a single on a seven pitch at bat. After a Madill strikeout, McEachern ripped one down the rightfield line for a double. McCalmon then took the second pitch she saw and hammered it into centerfield for a double of her own. Curosh and McEachern scored to push the Big Green lead to 5-0.
Harvard did not go quietly, however, as it got to McCalmon in the bottom of the frame. After allowing runners to reach first and second with two outs, Hanson pulled McCalmon for Rumley. After the junior threw a wild pitch and the two runners advanced one base, Lantz singled to right to bring them home and cut the Dartmouth lead back to three. A quick foul out ended the fifth inning.
“Every game, there’s some amount of pressure on Morgan and me but we handle it pretty well,” Rumley said. “We both knew going into today that we would throw our game and if we didn’t, the other would have our back.”
When the game seemed to be getting close again, Dartmouth’s offense came through and made sure the Crimson could not rally. Eight consecutive batters reached base to start a four-run top of the sixth for the Dartmouth women. Rumley helped her own cause with a double to left before Damore singled up the gut. Megan Averitt ’15 grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice to plate pinch runner Alyssa Loyless ’17. The top of the order continued to produce before McCalmon grounded out to end the big inning.
Rumley allowed two hits over the next two innings, but the Crimson never threatened the Big Green’s 9-2 lead. Rumley struck out Harvard senior Shelbi Olson on four pitches to end the game.
The team returns to Hanover to host the Ivy League Championship Series against Penn next weekend in a rematch of last season’s championship series, which the Quakers won. Two games will be played on Saturday, and a third on Sunday if necessary.
