Big Green Open Ivy League Play with Two Wins Over Penn

Friday, March 24

Hanover, N.H.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

6-11, 1-0

Penn

2-20, 0-4

Penn

Dartmouth

Photo by: Doug Austin

Big Green Open Ivy League Play with Two Wins Over Penn

3/24/2023 6:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Game 1) (PDF)Box Score (Game 2) (PDF)Highlights (Game 1)Highlights (Game 2)Photo Gallery

Dartmouth picked up victories by scores of 6-3 and 9-1 at home

By: Francis Forte

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth softball team opened Ivy League play with a doubleheader against the Penn Quakers on Friday, March 24. The Big Green secured a pair of conference wins at home to kick off their 11-game slate at the Dartmouth Softball Park and open the year 2-0 against Ancient Eight foes.

Alaana Panu lifted Dartmouth to a walk-off victory in the opening contest of the day, crushing a grand slam to give her team a 6-3 win. Dartmouth's bats were hot in the second game of the afternoon, as the Big Green bested Penn by a score of 9-1 in six innings.

Rachel McCarroll pitched her seventh complete game of the season to open the day for Dartmouth, while Stella Bale and Peyton Kanaly allowed no earned runs in the Big Green's second victory in Hanover. The Big Green were sound defensively, committing just one error over the two contests.

"We've had a lot of great growth over the last few weeks, and we were hoping to see that growth and what we've worked on heading into Ivy play," head coach Jen Williams said. "They came in and were a little nervous at first, but then we started putting things together. They relaxed and we started playing our softball and playing softball the way we can.

Game One: Dartmouth 6, Penn 3
Dartmouth and Penn were held scoreless by the opposing oppositions through three innings to open the day. The Big Green and Quakers combined for just two hits and three base runners in the opening three frames, as both defenses held strong.

The best opportunity either team had in the early goings of the contest came in the top of the second, as a double from Sammy Fenton, followed by a wild pitch placed a runner on third. Katie Reagan walked to first with two away, but a flyout ended the scoring chance for Penn as the contest remained scoreless.

The Quakers broke through with three runs in the top of the fourth to take the first lead of the afternoon. A single up the middle brought from Julia Mortimer with two outs on the board broke the scoreless tie and a two-run homer from Reagan on the next at-bat gave Penn a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the frame.

A single from Kate Farren and a double from Maria Angelino placed Dartmouth runners on second and third with no outs. After a strikeout, Jenna Brown brought in Dartmouth's first run of the day on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt, and then immediately stole second. A groundout and a lineout closed the frame, as the Big Green stranded two and trailed 3-1 heading into the sixth.

After a quiet sixth inning from both teams, Penn was unable to add insurance runs in the top of the seventh, giving the Big Green a chance to rally.

Allie Ohde opened the frame with a single, which was followed by a double down the right-field line to put the winning run at the plate. A fielding error on the next at-bat brought in Brown, cutting Penn's lead to one, and Kelly Beaupre loaded the bases with a single.

Panu made the most of her opportunity, crushing a grand-slam to right center to give Dartmouth the walk-off victory. The Big Green completed the rally in style, picking up the 6-3 win over the Quakers.

👀 the walk-off grand slam off the bat of Alaana Panu! #SCTop10 | @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/j1JMAIdU48
— DartmouthSoftball (@DartmouthSball) March 24, 2023

"During my last at-bat before the seventh, I was hunting an outside pitch. I told one of my teammates 'I am going to hit my first collegiate oppo-home run," Panu said. "I just went up to the plate and knew I was attacking outside pitch. When I saw it coming, I just said 'smash.' I like to believe that was the universe's way of fulfilling that dream."

Panu's third homer of the year lifted Dartmouth to a record of 6-11, while Penn fell to 2-20 and 0-4 in Ivy League play with the loss. McCarroll improved to 6-6 on the season in the circle with another complete-game performance.

Game Two: Dartmouth 9, Penn 1 (6 inn.)
Farren picked up where Panu left off in the second inning of the second contest, as she recorded a solo home run to left-center field to give Dartmouth the early lead. The Big Green's first hit of the game was monumental and gave Dartmouth an advantage heading into the third.

Bale and Dartmouth's defense held onto the one-run lead through the fourth inning, and Kanaly came in as a reliever to open the fifth. The Big Green continued to hold strong, taking the lead into the bottom of the frame.

The defensive efforts of the Big Green were rewarded, as Dartmouth rattled off four hits and a trio of runs to take a commanding lead. Panu recorded her fifth RBI of the day, batting in Lauren Ben-Ezra to extend the lead, and a two-RBI single to right center brought the Dartmouth lead to 4-0.

Penn tacked its first run of the game on the board in the top of the sixth. The home squad was undeterred and he runs kept flowing for Dartmouth in the bottom of the frame.

A two-run triple from Ashley Frantz gave her team a five-run lead, and a two-run homer from Kelly Beaupre added insurance. Beaupre's first home run of the 2023 season brought the lead to seven runs. An RBI single from Ohde put the finishing touches on a 9-1 run-rule victory for Dartmouth.

Two-run shot by Kelly Beaupre! 💪https://t.co/mIofYNzHVB | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/gO3EAMfHDE
— DartmouthSoftball (@DartmouthSball) March 24, 2023

"There was a lot more assurance after the first game that the way we play will win conference games," Williams said of her team's game two performance. "We told them at the end of game one that we wanted to string things together on offense throughout the entire game. Our defense was good and pitching was great in game one, but we needed to string things together on offense. We did that much more successfully in game two."

Dartmouth closed out the day with a 7-11 record and a 2-0 conference mark, while Penn fell to 2-21 and 0-5 in Ivy League play.

Up Next:
Dartmouth is back in action tomorrow morning to close its series against the Quakers. The Big Green look to secure the Ivy League sweep at 10 a.m. at the Dartmouth Softball Park. A stream is available on ESPN+ and Stretch Internet internationally.