Dartmouth Softball Sweeps Harvard, Earns North Division Title

Sunday, April 26

Cambridge, Mass.

2:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Harvard (dh)

Dartmouth Softball Sweeps Harvard, Earns North Division Title

4/26/2009 7:30:00 PM | Softball

By: Dartmouth

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - With a sweep of Harvard, the Dartmouth softball team finished the Ivy League season with a 13-7 record and its first league North Division title. The Big Green will head to Cornell next weekend to battle for the Ivy League title after defeating the Crimson, 2-0 and 5-2 on Sunday at Soldiers Field.

The Big Green (22-20) leapfrogged the Crimson (27-16), which entered the day with a one-game lead in the division standings. Dartmouth relied on pitchers Hillary Barker (Duvall, Wash.), Kat Hicks (Templeton, Calif.) and Devin Lindsay (Whittier, Calif.), who combined to limit Harvard to two runs on nine hits.

Barker was the story of the first game, pitching a four-hit shutout to outduel Crimson pitchers Rachel Brown and Margaux Black. Brown did not allow a hit in her first three innings of work, but Dartmouth took the first lead of the day in the fourth inning. The Big Green loaded the bases without leaving the infield on two hits and a Harvard error, and Alyssa Parker (Spring Valley, Calif.) brought home two runs with a single up the middle.

The Big Green threatened again in the fifth, putting two runners on with one out. Black came on in relief to get out of the inning with a pair of ground balls. Dartmouth loaded the bases with three singles in the sixth, but junior third baseman Melissa Schellberg fielded Kirstin Costello's (Windsor, N.Y.) ground ball and threw her out to end the inning.

Harvard put the potential tying runs on base in the final inning as Schellberg led off with a single and Bailey Vertovez was hit with a pitch. Third baseman Ashley Gleason (Costa Mesa, Calif.) got Dartmouth out of trouble by fielding Emily Henderson's bunt and throwing on the run to retire the Harvard sophomore by a step and end the game.

In the second game, Dartmouth used a two-out rally to take the lead in the second inning. Audrey Kolodziej (Morton Grove, Ill.) dropped a hit inside the right field line, and Meghan Everett (Flemington, N.J.) followed with a single deep into the shortstop hole. Christy Autin (Harwood Heights, Ill.) brought them home with a double to left.

The Crimson looked to halve the Big Green lead on a Jennifer Francis single in the bottom of the inning, center fielder Nikki Yee (Martinez, Calif.) made a perfect throw home to catch Whitney Shaw trying to score from second base.

The Big Green increased its lead to 4-0 on an Parker's RBI single and a bases-loaded walk of Everett. In between, Harvard sophomore second baseman Ellen Macadam kept Dartmouth from adding a run when she threw out Molly Khalil (Seal Beach, Calif.) trying to score when an infield hit bounced off Macadam's glove. Hayley Bock got Harvard out of a bases-loaded jam by throwing from her catcher position to catch Kolodziej straying too far from second base, leading to a pickoff of Leigha Clarkson (Perris, Calif.) at third.

Harvard loaded the bases on two walks and an error in the fifth inning, bringing the potential tying run to the plate with one out. Hicks got junior Stephanie Krysiak to fly out to left and snagged Macadam's line drive to end the inning.

A Costello double scored Autin to make it 5-0 in the top of the sixth.

Back-to-back doubles by Shaw to the right-center gap and by Schellberg bouncing over the head of Gleason got Harvard on the board in the bottom of the frame. Lindsay came in to pitch before Francis brought Schellberg home with a ground ball to trim the deficit to three runs. Hicks finished with two runs allowed on five hits. Lindsay did not allow a hit in two innings of work, retiring the Crimson in order in the seventh to close.

Junior Dana Roberts started Game 2 for Harvard, allowing two runs on four hits in two innings. Freshman Julia Moore and Black pitched the third inning before Brown held the Big Green scoreless over the final four frames, giving Harvard hope for a comeback. She recorded five of her final six outs by strikeout, fanning the side in the fifth.

Parker was tops on the day with a .517 average as the junior recorded four hits in the two games with three RBIs. Gleason had three hits and two runs.

Dartmouth will now travel to Ithaca, N.Y. and a best-of-three series with Cornell University, the winner of the South Division, for the Ivy League title.