Sports
Ashley Mitchell / The Dartmouth Staff
Ashley Mitchell / The Dartmouth Staff
In a winner-take-all four-game series against Harvard University, the Dartmouth softball team fell behind early and had no answer to the Crimson's big bats, as the Big Green's run for a second-straight Ivy League North Division title was cut short.
Harvard (25-20, 17-3 Ivy) swept Dartmouth (13-26, 11-9 Ivy) in the four-game series.
"I think we just put way too much pressure on ourselves," co-captain Alyssa Parker '10 said.
The Big Green opened its final series of the season trailing Harvard by two games and needing to take three of four games from the Crimson in order to claim a share of the division crown.
The Dartmouth losses on Saturday gave Harvard a four-game lead with two games left to play, ending the Big Green's title chase.
In the opener, the Crimson came out blazing, jumping to a 4-0 lead in the first inning highlighted by a three-run shot from sophomore Whitney Shaw.
The situation would not improve for the Big Green for the rest of the day, as the Crimson starter Rachel Brown went to work and methodically broke down Dartmouth's lineup with almost unhittable pitches.
"We were gearing up to face more speed against Rachel Brown," Parker said.