HARVARD 8, DARTMOUTH 4

The Crimson started the afternoon slowly as well, but the resilient squad dominated the middle innings to cruise to an 8-4 victory in the first game of the twinbill.

Three scoreless innings were broken in the top of the fourth when Dartmouth junior Jason Brookes plated sophomore Joe Sclafani on a two-out single to take the early lead.

It didn’t last for long. O’Hara doubled down the line and was brought in by Albright’s single up the middle to tie the game.

After Albright was picked off, Zailskas, senior Chris Rouches, and freshman Kyle Larrow pounded consecutive two-out singles to score another run. O’Neill then belted the ball to left-center field for two more RBI.

“Knowing that we were behind in the [first] game and were able to get on top was a real big boost to us,” Walsh said. “[We] got the lid off there and got the 4-1 lead even though they climbed back on it.”

Although the Big Green bounced back in the fifth to cut the Harvard advantage to one, another Crimson four-spot secured the lead. Albright plated junior Sam Franklin with a sacrifice fly to center field. Rouches’ fly down the right-field line was then dropped for an error, allowing O’Hara to score and Harvard to stay at the plate. Larrow followed by lacing the ball into left field, where a bad bounce past the fielder helped the Crimson to score two more, bringing the lead to 8-3.

A homer by Dartmouth freshman Zack Bellanger in the seventh was not enough to help the Big Green come back. Sophomore hurler Brent Suter kept Dartmouth in check, remaining unbeaten in Ivy play by striking out six and allowing five hits in his second complete game of the season.

“Our first game, [Suter] threw a gem for us,” Albright said. “He threw hard...and threw a lot of strikes. He did very good for us.”

Suter was supported by an offense that delivered, allowing the Crimson to clinch the first win of the twinbill.

“We are very hot and cold, and it’s very contagious,” Zailskas said. “Once one guy starts hitting, everybody else seems to follow suit...We are confident right now, and we’ve really come together as a team the past few days.”

—Staff writer Stephanie E. Herwatt can be reached at sherwatt@college.harvard.edu.