While the baseball team finally ended up on the right side of a one-run game, it also ended up on the wrong side of a four-run game yesterday at Yale Field.

The Elis (19-14, 7-7 Ivy) had lost seven games by a one-run margin this season, but on Sunday they defeated Dartmouth (12-15, 7-7) 4-3 in the first game. The Bulldogs came away with a split after losing 6-2 in the second game of the doubleheader.

The offensive heroes of the day were outfielders Jake Doyle ’07 and John Janco ’06. Doyle went 5-for-7 and Janco went 4-for-7, with one RBI each, over the two games.

“We came out ready to play,” Zac Bradley ’06 said. “We played well in the first game, even though our defense was shaky at times. In the second game, we battled hard. It wasn’t that we didn’t make the effort, but sometimes it just doesn’t turn out your way.”

In game one, the Elis got on the board in the first inning when Janco singled home Marc Sawyer ’07. In the second, Dartmouth starter Jeff Wilkerson walked in a run. The Bulldogs added a third run in the bottom of the sixth by playing some small ball — after Janco singled, Josh Cox ’08 was brought in to pinch-run. Matt Stone ’06 sacrificed Cox to second, and Jake Doyle ’07 followed with a single to score Cox.

Starting pitcher Alec Smith ’06 had pitched six scoreless innings before giving up three unearned runs in the seventh. Yale made two errors in the inning, and Dartmouth outfielder Will Bashelor capitalized by hitting a two-run single to tie the game at three. But Smith retired cleanup hitter Jeff Speights to end the threat.

In the bottom of the seventh, Wilkerson retired the first two Eli batters of the inning. But the next hitter, Justin Ankney ’07, reached on a throwing error and advanced to second. With two outs and the winning run in scoring position, Dartmouth brought in closer Nick Peay to face Sawyer. After working the count full, Sawyer drilled a game-winning single to center.

“Marc is just a phenomenal hitter,” Bradley said. “He’s a natural at the plate. We’ve ended up on the short end of a lot of one-run games, so it was nice to walk off with a win.”

In game two, the Elis did not fare quite as well. Big Green starter Josh Faiola scattered nine hits over nine innings and struck out 10 as Dartmouth cruised to a 6-2 win. Sawyer and catcher P.J. Gorynski ’08 each drove in one of Yale’s runs.

On the mound, Mike Mongiardini ’07 was solid, allowing only two runs through five innings. But the Big Green got to him in the sixth, scoring four runs. Even though Steve Gilman ’08, Adam Barrick ’06, Colin Ward-Henninger ’05 and Brett Rosenthal ’07 combined for four innings of shutout relief, the Bulldog offense was unable to make up the difference.

“I thought we swung the bat well in both games,” Doyle said. “But I felt like we were hitting the ball right to the defense in the second game. The ball just wasn’t finding any holes for us.”

The two teams remain deadlocked for third place in the Red Rolfe division. The Elis will have an opportunity to move into sole possession of third with a sweep of tomorrow’s doubleheader against Dartmouth, which was originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed due to rain.

Though Yale still sits four games behind division-leading Harvard with only six Ivy League games to play, the Bulldogs are maintaining their step-by-step attitude.

“Tomorrow we’ll take the same approach as yesterday,” Doyle said Sunday. “We’re just going to take it one game at a time, hoping to win every game, trying not to look too far down the road.”

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