Softball Splits with Yale, Holds One-Game Lead in Division

Sunday, April 19

New Haven, Conn.

12:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Yale (dh)

Softball Splits with Yale, Holds One-Game Lead in Division

4/19/2009 7:30:00 PM | Softball

By: Dartmouth

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Dartmouth (20-17, 11-5 Ivy) softball team split a doubleheader on Sunday with Yale as the Big Green continues to hold the lead in the Ivy League's North Division. Dartmouth and Harvard will meet this weekend to determine the division's winner. The two games versus the Bulldogs were a case of opposites on Sunday. In the opener, the two teams combined for 22 runs and 26 hits as the Big Green came away with a 12-10 victory. In the second game the Bulldogs used a six-hit shut to emerge with a 1-0 win.

Yale (18-22, 7-9 Ivy) scored the only run of the second game in the third inning, and the rally started with two outs when Ashley Sloan reached on a bunt single then stole second and scored on a single to centerfield.

Bulldog pitcher Diana DiBernardi struck out three in holding the high-powered Big Green offense in check for the second straight day to earn the win. After back-to-back singles by Alyssa Parker (Spring Valley, Calif.) and Leigha Clarkson (Perris, Calif.), DiBernardi fielded two hard-hit balls back at her.

The Big Green (20-17, 11-5 Ivy) had the tying run on base in the seventh inning, but the Yale defense preserved the win. Christy Autin (Harwood Heights, Ill.) led off with a single but was erased on Kirsten Costello's (Windsor, N.Y.) fielder's choice. Nikki Yee (Martinez, Calif.) then hit a line drive that was snared at short who then made a long throw to first to double-off Costello, who had ventured too far off the base.

Both teams finished with six hits in the game. Parker went 2-for-2 as four others recorded the other hits. In the circle Hillary Barker (Duvall, Wash.) went the complete game as the freshman gave up just one run while striking out five.

In the first game, Molly Khalil (Seal Beach, Calif.) went 3-for-4 with two runs and five RBIs as the rookie hit her fourth homerun of the season. Ashley Gleason (Costa Mesa, Calif.), Costello and Parker each had two hits.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first after Dartmouth scored once in the top of the second, Yale answered with a run in the bottom of the inning.

The Big Green, though, scored the next seven runs to take an 8-4 lead. The Bulldogs pulled to within 8-7 on Megan Enyeart's two-run triple and a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Parker's RBI single capped a three-run fifth inning for the Big Green that made it 11-7. Yale got one back in the bottom of the fifth, but Gleason hit a solo home run in the seventh.

Still, Yale refused to go quietly as the Bulldogs scored on a triple of the season but that was the end of the scoring for the home team.

Kat Hicks (Templeton, Calif.) pitched 3.1 innings of relief, allowing only one earned run, to earn the victory for Dartmouth.

The Big Green is back in action on Thursday with a doubleheader against Vermont in Burlington at 3:00 pm. Dartmouth and Harvard will meet this weekend for two days of doubleheader beginning on Saturday in Hanover at 2:00 pm. The two will square off for the final regular season league games on Sunday in Cambridge at 2:00 pm.