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| (via The Dartmouth) |
Dartmouth softball continues to roll through its competition, extending its win streak to 13 and maintaining a perfect 12-0 Ivy League record.
One week after sweeping all for of its Ivy League South competitors, Dartmouth swept its first Ivy League North foe, establishing itself as the team to beat in the Ivy League.
Several Dartmouth players turned in big performances this weekend – Maddie Damore ’17, Kristen Rumley ’15 and Morgan McCalmon ’16.
Saturday was essentially Damore’s coming out party as she led Dartmouth with seven RBIs batted in on three home runs. Damore became the 63rd player in NCAA history to homer three times in a game and the first since April.
“[Damore’s] capable of it and we’ve known that,” head coach Rachel Hanson said. “She’s been having a little bit of a down time so this was kind of a good confidence booster for her. That’s the kind of hitter we know she can be.”
Damore is the first Ivy League freshman to homer three times since April 13, 2001, when Cornell’s Kate Varde registered three against Dartmouth.
Rumley hit the game-winning walk-off single that scored Damore in Saturday’s Game One. Rumley earned five hits on the day and pitched eight innings on Saturday before picking up wins in both of Sunday’s games.
"She's a great all-around player,” Hanson said. “She can hit, she can pitch, she can play defense. She's a great kid and very composed."
McCalmon picked up both wins Saturday and increased her hitting streak to 13 games, and provided crucial run support in Sunday’s Game Two.
Dartmouth needed nine innings to pull off a 3-2 victory in Saturday’s Game One in what rapidly turned into a pitcher’s duel.
Rumley and senior Kristen Leung both turned in eight innings of work on the mound before being relieved. Although Rumley outperformed Leung, striking out more batters and allowing fewer hits, the score remained tied 2-2 entering the ninth. Rumley also pitched fewer times, 103, than Leung’s 118.
Normally, Dartmouth has been able to score early in the first or second inning, but Leung kept Dartmouth’s batting order shut down until the fourth. At that point, Karen Chaw ‘17’s double scored Katie McEachern ’16 before Chaw herself raced home on Kelsey Miller ‘16’s double to give Dartmouth a 2-0 advantage.
"We've got good athletes but approach is key,” Hanson said. “We're taking big cuts and swinging hard and they're looking for the right pitch to hit and swinging hard at it."
Rumley continued to shut down Yale’s batters until the seventh when sophomore Lauren Delgadillo belted a two-run humer to tie the score and send the game into extra innings.
After the game-tying homer, Hanson said she told her players to just come right back.
“After the game it was a message of 'we let them hang around a little too long,” Hanson said. “We gave them the opportunity to take it back. So we need to be a little more aggressive early in the game."
Rumley stayed in the game until the ninth when Hanson pulled Rumley, who was tired after throwing 103 pitched, for McCalmon, who retired the side.
McCalmon, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, then earned the win when Rumley continued to leave her mark on the game when she scored Damore for the walk-off run and win.
McCalmon continued to play from the mound for Game Two, throwing a complete game as Dartmouth dominated Yale 10-1, winning in six innings. McCalmon surrendered just one run all game in her winning effort – a second inning score off a wild pitch that tied the game at one.
Dartmouth’s batting order, led by Damore, controlled the rest of the game, starting with scoring on a walk in the first.
The fireworks really started in the fourth when Damore sent the ball over the left field wall for three. Damore homered a second time in the fifth for two more runs to make the score 8-1. She ended the game with one final home run to left-center to increase Dartmouth’s lead to nine.
"I was pretty calm,” Damore said. “I wasn't expecting to see any good pitches after the first two at bats but I was ready to go up there swinging and she gave me a nice one."
Moving on to Sunday’s Game One, Dartmouth defeated Yale 5-1, scoring all five runs in the third inning.
Yale actually led 1-0 after the first but that would be the only offense Rumley allowed as she pitched all seven innings, giving up just five runs and two walks.
In the third, Yale surrendered five runs on seven hits to Dartmouth. Dartmouth loaded the bases and scored with regularity as four different batters scored runners.
Yale would shut out Dartmouth’s batting order for the final three innings but Yale’s batters were unable to mount a comeback.
The sun finally started coming out for the final game of the weekend.
McCalmon started the game and pitched a clean first inning before surrendering a two-shot home run and a run off a single in the second to put Dartmouth in a 3-0 hole, Yale’s largest lead all weekend.
Hanson said she and the team don’t worry too much about the scoreboard.
“For us it’s just about playing at a high level every inning,” Hanson said. “When you have the ability to score runs, you’re not putting extra pressure on yourself and just focusing on the game.”
McCalmon would then cut the deficit to two when she scored on a double by Damore, just beating the throw to the plate. McCalmon almost missed out on the scoring chance when she barely reached first as the ball arrived.
“First thing I did when I got to the dugout was tell my teammates, ‘and you said I was slow,’” McCalmon said. “It was a big moment and I trusted Coach and she made the good call. Anything could have happened and I got in there.”
The first-base umpire ruled McCalmon safe as Delgadillo’s foot was not on the bag, but from the home-plate umpire’s perspective, McCalmon was out. Both umpires met for a brief conference before ruling McCalmon safe, setting her up for the score.
McCalmon felt confident that the umpires were going to rule in her favor since the first-base umpire had the best vantage point.
Karen Chaw ’17 then scored Damore to cut Yale’s lead to one before Yale successfully retired the side.
In the fifth, Yale nearly expanded on its lead by loading the bases with two outs. Hanson pulled McCalmon for the final batter of the inning and replaced her with Rumley, who retired the side.
Momentum quickly swung Dartmouth’s way. In response, Dartmouth loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth with just one out as McEachern went to the plate. Unfortunately, McEachern never reached first by popping out, but right before McEachern’s pop-out, Megan Averitt ‘15 scored on a wild pitch, just beating freshman pitcher Lindsey Efflandt to the plate to tie the game.
McCalmon followed McEachern, and with two runners on base and two outs, McEachern singled, but more importantly scored both runners, to put Dartmouth up 5-3.
For the final two innings, Rumley was perfect, allowing not a single hit, walk or error to blemish her relief effort as she picked up her 13th win of the season.
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