After an injury-shortened freshman year, sophomore Brandon Kregel became the centerpiece of the Crimson offense this season, leading the team in batting average (.294), hits (45), RBI (20), HR (2) and runs (23).

In its final Ivy League doubleheader of the season, the Harvard baseball team battled against Dartmouth, the newly crowned champs of the Red Rolfe Division, but was unable to pull out a victory.

Playing on a clear Sunday afternoon at O’Donnell Field on Senior Day, the Crimson (10-30, 7-13 Ivy) scored first in both games but could not hold on in later innings. Harvard dropped the first game, 4-2, and the Big Green (31-7, 15-5) strung together rallies in game two to notch a five-run win.

The two losses secured third place for the Crimson in its four-team division.

“Obviously our chance at winning an Ivy League title was done,” freshman catcher DJ Link said. “Coming in today, especially as an underclassman, on Senior Day we wanted to give a really good effort for the seniors who have been through the program.”

DARTMOUTH 9, HARVARD 4

In the second game of the day, the Crimson got a good start but could not hold off the Big Green offense in the later innings.

Dartmouth scored all nine of its runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to take the lead for good, and although Harvard responded with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, the Big Green still managed to complete the sweep.

Senior Michael Johnson threw six innings and earned the win for Dartmouth, improving his record to 7-0 on the year. Junior Baron Davis started on the hill for Harvard and pitched into the seventh inning, but was tagged with the loss after surrendering four earned runs in the game.

The Big Green got on the board with two runs in the sixth, and Dartmouth tacked on four additional tallies in the next half-inning on as many hits.

Co-captain reliever Jordan Haviland, who entered the game in the seventh, was replaced by senior Matt Doyle in the top of the eighth, but the Big Green offense scored three more times, keyed by a two-run double by junior Shane Ogren.

Harvard did not go down without a fight, and in the bottom of the eighth inning, sophomore Mike Martin smacked a double down the left field line to bring home a run. A few batters later, a bases-loaded walk to sophomore infielder Tanner Anderson plated one more, and Link added an RBI single to cap the three-run inning.

“We produced; we got guys on base against some really good pitchers,” Link said. “I think we battled at the plate, and we put balls in play and found some holes. There were just a few situations where we had runners on and just couldn’t get that one hit.”

Davis was very effective in the first five innings of play, allowing zero runs and only a single hit. But the only support he received during that time was an RBI single from Anderson in the bottom of the first.

DARTMOUTH 4, HARVARD 2

In a seven-inning game that lasted just over an hour and twenty minutes, the Big Green came back from an early deficit to claim its third victory on the weekend.

The Crimson jumped out to a one-run lead in the third, but Dartmouth responded with a three-run fourth inning to seize a lead that it would never give up.

Each team used only one pitcher, and both starters worked efficiently. Anderson surrendered four runs—just one earned—on six hits, but he did not receive enough offensive support to avoid the loss.

“We knew going into the game it was more of a pride thing,” Doyle said. “They had good starting pitching performances…. Finally we started to see the ball a little better; it took a little long but that’s probably the story of the year. We have the pitching sometimes and the hitting doesn’t come, and then it flip flops. But for us, it’s definitely just a learning point especially for next year going forward.”

Harvard got the scoring started in the third, when freshman outfielder Matt Sanders reached second base after the Dartmouth third baseman airmailed a throw over the first baseman’s head. After a strikeout, junior outfielder Carlton Bailey lined a pitch to left field to pick up the RBI.

But the Big Green bounced right back in the next frame, scoring three times on three hits. The Crimson made two errors in the inning, including a bobbled groundball in the infield that resulted in a run.

Dartmouth added an additional earned run in the top of the fifth to push the lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the sixth, Harvard got the run back on a double from sophomore outfielder Brandon Kregel in the left-center gap. But the Crimson could not tack on any more runs in the frame, and the team went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the loss.

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at dsteinbach@college.harvard.edu.