Softball Opens Ivy League Slate at Home Against Penn

Friday, March 24

Hanover, N.H.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Penn

Maddie Katona softball action in game two against Brown

Photo by: Doug Austin

Softball Opens Ivy League Slate at Home Against Penn

3/23/2023 10:27:00 AM | Softball

ESPN + (Game 1)ESPN+ (Game 2)ESPN+ (Game 3)International Stream Live Stats Notes (PDF)

The Big Green look to open their conference schedule strong against the Quakers.

By: Francis Forte

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth softball team returns to Hanover for its first home series of the 2023 season this weekend. The Big Green open the Ivy League portion of its schedule with a three-game slate against the Penn Quakers at the Dartmouth Softball Park.

SCHEDULE CHANGE
Dartmouth's series against Penn was moved up one day due to forecasted inclement weather in the Upper Valley.

The series will begin this Friday, March 24 with a pair of games scheduled for at 1 and 3 p.m. Dartmouth closes out its first Ivy League series against Penn the following day at 10 a.m. The three-game slate was originally slated to begin on Saturday and conclude Sunday.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green return to Hanover after capping off a seven-game trip to California last week. Dartmouth closed the trip with a record of 2-5, picking up victories over Maine and Saint Mary's, and finishing its pre-Ivy League portion of the schedule at 5-11.

Rachel McCarroll was instrumental to Dartmouth's success against Maine and Saint Mary's and led the Big Green's defensive efforts in both contests. She led Dartmouth to a 2-1 win over the Gaels on March 17 and followed that performance up with a shutout against Maine the following day.

Mary Beth Cahalan was stellar in Dartmouth's first game against Maine on March 17. The junior recorded a pair of home runs and five RBIs and registered three hits on four at-bats against the Black Bears.

AROUND THE LINEUP
Alaana Panu leads the Big Green in batting average through 16 games (.298). She has recorded 14 hits in 16 games including a pair of triples, a double and two home runs.

Cahalan has been an offensive force for Dartmouth thus far, as she has recorded three home runs and leads the team with 10 RBIs. She has also drawn eight walks and leads Dartmouth with an on-base percentage of .420, which ranks 10^th in the Ivy League as of March 23. She ranks fifth in the conference in slugging percentage (.610).

McCarroll has led Dartmouth in the circle throughout the early portion of the season. She has pitched 62.2 innings for the Big Green and has amassed a record of 5-6 with an ERA of 2.79. The sophomore leads the Ivy League in innings pitched, wins and looking strikeouts (16) and recorded her first-career shutout against Maine in a 1-0 victory on March 18 and has pitched six complete games.

A pair of freshmen have also appeared in the circle, as Stella Bale and Peyton Kanaly have gotten tastes of collegiate softball action prior to Ivy League action.

ANCIENT EIGHT ACTION AWAITS
Dartmouth opens its Ivy League schedule this weekend with its series against the Quakers. The Big Green look to make strides to a postseason berth with a strong showing against Penn at home.

The Big Green are one of two Ancient Eight teams to open their conference slate this weekend. The other six programs in the Ivy League opened competition last weekend, with Harvard and Princeton sweeping series against Penn and Yale, respectively.

Dartmouth closed out the 2022 season just one game outside of the Ivy League Championship series. The Big Green look to make a push toward a newly formatted conference tournament, as four teams will now qualify for a chance at an NCAA Regional berth.

Jen Williams' squad was selected to finish third in the Ivy League preseason poll, behind Harvard and reigning-champion, Princeton. Columbia was picked to finish fourth, followed by Yale. Brown and Cornell each received 39 points in the poll, while Penn rounded out the poll in eighth.

SCOUTING PENN
Penn enters the weekend series with a record of 2-19 and an Ivy League mark of 0-3. The Quakers look to shake off a tough series against Harvard last weekend to keep pace in a competitive Ivy League.

The Quakers secured their first wins of the 2023 season on Wednesday, March 22 against Maryland Eastern Shore. Penn picked up victories by scores of 8-0 and 12-3, building momentum as the team heads to Hanover.

Penn is led by Madison Bauerle and Sarah Schneider. They have both recorded 21 hits and 10 runs for the Quakers, with Schneider leading the team in RBIs (12) while Bauerle leads the program with a batting average of .356.

Last weekend, Penn was swept by Harvard in both team's first conference series of the season. The Quakers were outscored 27-6 by the Crimson.

HISTORY AGAINST THE QUAKERS
Dartmouth swept the Quakers in Philadelphia last season. The Big Green secured victories by scores of 4-0, 4-2 and 9-8.

Kate Farren was stellar against the Quakers, finishing the series with six RBIs and seven hits. She was a difference maker in Dartmouth's final game of the series, recording four RBIs in a high-scoring 9-8 win.

Dartmouth's victories last season marked its first sweep of Penn since the 2016 season. The sweep lifted the program to an all-time record of 36-27 against the Quakers.

FOLLOW ALONG
The Big Green's games against Penn will take place at the Dartmouth Softball Park with free admission. A stream will be available for all three games on ESPN+ and live stats links can be found above or on the softball team's schedule page.