After winning three games against Brown University, the softball team suffered its first Ivy loss of the season.
Over the course of the first three games, Dartmouth outscored Brown 17-3,
Every part of Dartmouth’s game in the first three contests clicked, pitcher Kristen Rumley ’15 said.
On Saturday, both Rumley and Morgan McCalmon ’16 pitched complete games in 7-1 and 4-0 wins.
Rumley, after allowing a home run in Saturday’s first game, shut down Brown for her 14th win of the season. McCalmon also set a personal benchmark, striking out a career-high 11 hitters in game two.
In the first game, Rumley was supported by a homer from Chloe Madill ’17.
Kara Curosh ’14 contributed to Dartmouth’s game one victory with her bat, adding three RBIs in Saturday’s game one when she hit a double to right center that cleared the bases.
Katie McEachern ’16 not only kicked off the scoring in the fifth inning of game two, but also earned the game-winning RBI.
The Big Green was also helped by back-to-back homeruns from Karen Chaw ’17 and Kelsey Miller ’16.
Dartmouth continued to roll on Sunday, winning 6-2 in the first half of Sunday’s double-header before allowing three runs in the bottom of the fifth to fall 3-1 in game two.
Rumley picked up her 15th win by limiting Brown to two runs in game one.
She was heavily assisted by Madill, who hit her first collegiate grand slam over the center field wall in the fourth.
But the hitting stopped for Dartmouth in game two. A single by Curosh provided Dartmouth’s only run, but it didn’t prove enough after Brown responded with a three-run fifth to win the game.
Brown’s upset also snapped its 28-game losing streak,
Despite Sunday’s loss, Dartmouth still can redeem itself with four games against Harvard University coming up this weekend.
Coach Rachel Hanson said she is confident that her team will be able to bounce back from the defeat in preparation for the Crimson.
Dartmouth has been looking forward to playing Harvard all season, Rumley said.
“I think going into next weekend against Harvard, we’re going to be pumped,” she said “The pitching went well, the hitting went well and I think we’re in a good position for next weekend.”
A high-stakes four-game softball series that could determine Dartmouth’s postseason would be an exciting way to end a career, Curosh said.
Harvard will play two games against Cornell University on Tuesday to make up for games canceled earlier this season.
The Crimson also has to complete the final inning of one of its games against the University of Pennsylvania after the game was called due to a lack of light in early April.
Barring an upset, Harvard will have a perfect Ivy record going into next weekend.
If Dartmouth wins three of its four upcoming games, the Big Green will win the Ivy League softball’s North Division title and the right to host the Ivy League Championship Series on May 3-4 in Hanover.
