Dartmouth Falls to Harvard in Both Games of Doubleheader

Saturday, April 21

Cambridge, Mass.

12:30 PM

Dartmouth College

15-15, 0

Harvard

19-12, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Dartmouth	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	9	3
Harvard	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	10	1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Dartmouth	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	0
Harvard	1	0	0	0	2	1	X	4	7	2

Dartmouth Falls to Harvard in Both Games of Doubleheader

4/21/2018 6:14:00 PM | Softball

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The top two softball teams in the Ivy League met on Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader that will play into the fate of who makes it to the Ivy League Championship Series, as what felt like a title game ensued at Soldiers Field. After 11 innings Dartmouth fell to Harvard 6-5 in game one and both teams returned for game two where the home team came out on top again, 4-1.

The Big Green fall to 15-16 on the year and 9-5 in conference play while the Crimson improve to 20-12 with a 13-4 Ivy record, taking sole possession of first place in the league.

As the first game went into four extra innings and took almost three hours to complete, Dartmouth held a strong chance to win before Harvard took it on a walk-off single from shortstop Rihanna Rich. The road team started the action scoring a run in the first on a single RBI from Taylor Ward with the bases loaded. Not much time passed before the Crimson tied it up on a solo home run from Erin Lockhart.

The Big Green would get that run back with another single RBI play, this time from Micah Schroder batting in McKenna Gray who was on third, taking a 2-1 lead into the third as they held the home team scoreless in the bottom of the second.

Dartmouth struck again in the third when Tatyanah Castillo hit a double to right field allowing Schae Nelson and Ward to each score and extend the lead 4-1. Harvard cut the lead in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double from the designated hitter Maddy Kaplan.

Neither team would score in the fourth inning, but the Crimson's two runs scored in the fifth, first on a walk with the bases loaded and second on a sac fly from Olivia Giaquinto, would tie the game up for the first time, 4-4. The Big Green held on, scoring the fifth run on a homer from Schroder in the fifth, before the home team tied it up again in the bottom of the inning on a sac fly from Lockhart.

Through the next four innings the stalemate continued, the closest Dartmouth would get to taking the win was in the top of the eighth when Tiffany Dyson hit a single, but no one else would have a hit the rest of the game. Harvard also tallied a single in the eighth but wouldn't get a runner past first base until the 11th, when Meagan Lantz reached first on an error, stole second and then advanced to third on an error before Rich hit the single RBI needed to take the win.

In game one the road team saw all three pitchers throw, as Breanna Ethridge started the day and pitched four innings allowing four hits and two runs with one walk, two errors and four strikeouts. Shelby Wilkison came in for relief in the fifth, before the Crimson loaded up the bases and scored the two runs to tie the game the first time. Freshman Heather Turner entered to close the game as she pitched 4.2 innings allowing two hits and one run with three strikeouts.

Harvard's Katie Duncan pitched the entire 11 innings as she faced 47 batters she allowed nine hits and five runs with three walks, four errors and seven strikeouts.

Game two of the day remained within the seven-inning parameter, as the Crimson took an early 1-0 lead on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the first. Turner pitched the first 5.1 innings of the game, holding the home team to just the one run through the next three innings.

The Big Green were able to get a runner on first three different times in the first four innings, but were unable to produce any more offense in those situations to score a run. In the top of the fourth, Nelson was walked and then stole second before advancing to third on an error by the catcher, and that was as close as the road team would get to scoring a run until the fifth.

With Harvard still holding a 1-0 lead, singles from Castillo and Dyson put runners on first and second with two outs, but a fly out from Schroder would end the outing in the fifth. The Crimson were able to tally two more runs in the bottom of the inning, as aggressive baserunning paid off. Isabelle Haugh pinch ran for Elizabeth Shively after she was walked and advanced to third on a single from Melissa Lacro, who was pinch hitting for Alyssa Saldana. As Saldana returned to run for Lacro, she stole second and then advanced to third as Haugh scored on an RBI bunt from Alexa Altcheck. Harvard would earn two more stolen bases in the inning as Saldana scored the third run of the game on an RBI single from Rich.

Morgan Martinelli was able to score the only run for Dartmouth in the top of the sixth on a solo home run to left field. Three plays later Calista Almer helped push the base runners to second and third on a sacrifice fielder's choice play with one out. As Gray came to bat with the opportunity to cut the lead or tie the game up, she hit into a double play to end the outing.

The last run of the day would be scored by Lockhart as Saldana was walked with the bases loaded, and the Big Green went three up, three down in the top of the seventh.

In game two the final line for Turner was seven hits and four runs with four errors, three walks and one strikeout in the 5.1 innings pitched, as Wilkison tossed the final 0.2 of the game.

During the doubleheader between Dartmouth and Harvard, Columbia took a two-game sweep of Princeton, moving into second place as the Big Green get pushed to third ahead of tomorrow's series finales across the conference.

Tomorrow the two teams return for game three of the series at 12:30 p.m. at Soldiers Field.