It’s almost too inevitable to be exciting.

With four games remaining in the Ivy season, the Harvard baseball team is precariously perched atop the Red Rolfe division standings. Dartmouth—who the Crimson faces in a pair of home-and-home doubleheaders this weekend—lurks one game back.

Last season, the Crimson entered this series with a one-game lead over Brown. The year before, it was tied for first with Dartmouth. In 2000, a sweep of the Big Green would have put Harvard in the postseason.

For the eighth straight year, the Crimson (17-19, 9-7) controls its own destiny.

“Every year we come to this,” said Harvard coach Joe Walsh. “Whether we’ve got 14 wins or nine wins, it always comes down to what we do against Dartmouth.”

Two weeks ago the Big Green (15-17, 8-8) didn’t seem like much of a threat for the division crown. Despite being Baseball America’s preseason pick to win the league title, Dartmouth slopped its way to a 2-6 Ivy opening record. But like the Crimson—which has won nine of its last 12 games—the Big Green got hot at the right time.

Now Harvard must split the series—which will begin with a noon doubleheader in Hanover on Saturday, followed by a noon set at O’Donnell Field on Sunday—to advance to the Ivy Championship Series next weekend.

“We haven’t really put any additional pressure on ourselves for this weekend,” said sophomore catcher Schuyler Mann. “We know we haven’t lost any [four-game] series, so we just have to do what we’ve done.”

Led by All-Ivy outfielder Scott Shirrell, Dartmouth roughed up a weak Yale pitching staff for 57 runs to win three of four games last weekend and keep stride with the streaking Crimson.

Shirrell—who had an Ivy-record 14 RBI in a 25-1 victory over Harvard last season—was named the league’s player of the week for his performance against Yale and is always dangerous.

“I consider Shirrell the best player in the league, or definitely the best hitter,” Walsh said. “How we pitch against him is going to be key. The best way to face him is to not throw him strikes.”

Who will get the job of throwing—or not throwing—to Shirrell is still uncertain. With junior Trey Hendricks sidelined after surgery to remove a bone chip from his right knee, the Crimson has only three proven weekend starters.

So who will Walsh throw in game four?

“With Trey out, we’ve got a lot of options,” Walsh said. “I told the guys that Captain Hook was going again. If someone doesn’t do well, he will come out there and bring someone else in.”

A good bet may be freshman Javier Castellanos, who allowed just three hits in 5.1 innings of relief at Brown last Monday. Senior Matt Self, junior Jason Brown and freshman Wes Cosgriff are also possibilities.

If Walsh needs to, he may even give rookie right fielder Lance Salsgiver his first collegiate mound time.

“He got on the mound the other day and looked pretty sharp,” Walsh said. “He got a lot of ‘oohs’ and aahs.’ You never know.”

It’s the second straight year that an injury has left the Crimson without a game four starter for Dartmouth. Last year, then-sophomore Marc Hordon sprained his shoulder sliding into third base during the first game of the series, leaving a gaping hole at his spot in the rotation.

In his place, Walsh sent Hendricks to the mound for his first Ivy start, a 4-3 Harvard loss that left the Crimson in a tie with Brown for the division title.

Harvard hopes its won’t come to that this season. By Sunday’s nightcap, Harvard may have already clinched an ICS berth.

Walsh says he will use his pitching staff aggressively on Saturday, even throwing projected game three starter Kenon Ronz out of the bullpen if necessary. Senior closer Barry Wahlberg, who has taken a week off while nursing a blister on his throwing hand, will also be available.

The Red Rolfe winner will most likely face Princeton for the Ivy title, which needs only a single victory to clinch the Lou Gehrig division title.

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu.