HANOVER — The nearly impossible math did not materialize for the Dartmouth College baseball team to qualify for the Ivy League championship series, but the Big Green (24-19, 14-7 Ivy League) still closed out their season in memorable fashion on Sunday afternoon with a series win against first-place Columbia.
Saturday’s series opener was dramatic enough, with Dartmouth winning, 11-8, to snap the Lions’ 19-game win streak. The Big Green’s bats came alive late, scoring three runs in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth. Senior outfielder Kade Kretzschmar’s three-run home run in the seventh gave Dartmouth the lead for good, and senior infielder Bryce Daniel hit a two-run shot an inning later for some big insurance.
The nightcap Saturday was suspended after four innings with Columbia leading, 5-3, and the Lions held on for a 6-4 victory despite a two-run homer from sophomore catcher Nathan Cmeyla. But the back half of the middle game was just a warmup for the epic series finale.
The Big Green trailed by six runs as they came to bat in the eighth but scored four runs in the inning to trim the deficit, with sophomore Max Zajec delivering a clutch two-run single. Then, with Dartmouth down to its last strike in the ninth, Cmelya hit a two-run blast to right to tie the game. Columbia scored once in the top of the 10th to retake the lead, but that only set the stage for run-scoring singles in the bottom half by sophomore Tyler Cox and junior Peter O’Toole, giving the Big Green an improbable 12-11 victory.
Dartmouth used 10 different pitchers in the four-hour, eight-minute affair.
“I don’t even know what to say after a game like that,” Big Green head coach Bob Whalen said postgame. “You go back and think about the fact that we didn’t play a game for essentially two years. This team has been through a lot, and that is probably why they’re such a close-knit group. All I can say about ending the season with a win like this is that the entire coaching staff could not more proud of this team.”
Seven seniors have concluded their time with the program: Kretzschmar, Daniel, and pitchers Justin Murray, Nathan Skinner, Trystan Sarcone, Cole Roland and Kunaal Verma.
KENNESAW, Ga. — The Big Green won two of their three games on Saturday, falling to Lindenwood but defeating West Chester and Brown to reach the championship round. But in the final on Sunday, it was again Lindenwood that came away victorious, defeating Dartmouth in a 32-0 rout.
Prior to Sunday’s final, the Big Green beat Army and Harvard in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.