The softball team went 2-2 at the James Madison Tournament in Harrisonburg, Va. last weekend, defeating Pennsylvania State University and Fairfield University on Saturday while falling to Fairfield and host James Madison University on Sunday. In a weekend with two doubleheaders, the team split each day, winning the early game before losing the second leg.
Dartmouth’s offense was strong throughout the tournament. After amassing only nine runs in five games in the Florida International Tournament last month, the team put up 15 in its four weekend contests.
“We made a little fire under ourselves to really get us going and get us playing as a team,” Kelsey Miller ’16 said.
Friday’s games were cancelled due to low temperatures. Though it remained cold, the tournament continued as scheduled on Saturday. Dartmouth was better prepared than its opponents because of Hanover’s cold weather, Karen Chaw ’17 said.
Chaw won the Ivy League’s first rookie of the week award for the 2014 season after hitting .313 with two home runs and seven RBIs in the JMU tournament. Miller ended the weekend with a team-high .533 batting average and eight hits, including a home run, earning her Ivy League player of the week.
On Saturday, Dartmouth defeated the Nittany Lions (5-11, 0-0 Big Ten) 6-3 for its first win of the season before dropping the afternoon contest to Fairfield (2-5, 0-0 MAAC) 7-3 on Friday.
Chaw starred on Friday against Penn State, belting a three-run home run as part of a 2-4 outing. Down 2-0 in the fifth, Chaw’s second home run of the year put Dartmouth into the lead 3-2. A solo blast to left center for Penn State tied the game, but Dartmouth seized the lead for good with an RBI double by Brianna Lohmann ’16 in the top of the sixth.
Kristen Rumley ’15 earned her first win of the season, allowing three runs on 10 hits over seven innings.
In the top of the seventh, Dartmouth sealed the game with a two-run double by Chloe Madill ’17.
In the first inning of the Big Green’s second Saturday game, the Stags jumped to a quick 3-0. Dartmouth responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by Chaw.
Fairfield added another run in the fifth before exploding for another three-run inning in the sixth off pitcher Morgan McCalmon ’16.
Though the game was out of reach in the bottom of the seventh, Kara Curosh ’14 crushed a solo home run to left field, but senior pitcher Rae Ball stymied any chance of a Big Green comeback.
Miller took on the lead role Sunday with five hits on the day. Chaw also notched two hits and two RBIs against JMU (10-8, 0-0 CAA).
In the first game of its Sunday double-header, Dartmouth avenged Saturday’s loss to Fairfield with a 4-1 victory.
The Big Green started fast, as Miller belted a home run to left on the fifth pitch of the game. The Stags tied it up in the bottom of the first but could not get another run against Rumley, who had a spectacular outing.
In earning her second win, Rumley threw another complete game with nine strikeouts, allowing just four hits and one run. She was also effective at the plate, notching an RBI double to score McCalmon and seal the game in the seventh.
Neither team could generate hits over the next five innings as Rumley and her Fairfield counterpart, senior Rebecca Trott, shut down the opposing offense until the sixth inning when a two-run homer by Katie McEachern ’16 broke the tie, giving the Big Green a 3-1 advantage.
Dartmouth nearly eked out a victory over JMU in the second game on Saturday, but a walk-off double handed the Dukes a 3-2 win.
“We did a lot of the little things right such as stringing hits together,” Miller said. “Even though we ended up losing, it was definitely one of our best games.”
Rumley was once again called into action. The junior held JMU scoreless for the first five innings. The Big Green’s batting lineup, however, was also held in check.
Dartmouth finally scored in the fifth as Chaw’s double scored runners from first and second, putting Dartmouth on top 2-0.
Needing just six outs for another victory, Rumley tried to close the game. McCalmon relieved Rumley after the Dukes had put runners on second and third with no outs. JMU scored with a single and a sacrifice fly in the sixth, tying the game heading into the final inning.
Dartmouth put runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh, but Chaw popped out to end the threat.
A seven-pitch at bat, sacrifice bunt and double gave the Dukes the win.
“We’ve had some off moments in our game, but we’ve played at a high level the whole time,” head coach Rachel Hanson said. “Regardless of the competition, we just have to keep battling and we learned that this weekend.”
Chaw and Rumley were both named to the JMU Softball Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Dartmouth will not return to the field until March 14, when the Big Green heads to California to compete in the University of California at Santa Barbara Tournament and the Loyola Marymount University Tournament.
