When Morgan Groom stepped back into the circle in the top of the seventh, the Crimson were three outs away from forcing Dartmouth into an effective one game playoff for a spot in the championship game. After the first two Dartmouth batters reached base on groundball singles, Groom managed to force a double play, leaving a Dartmouth runner on second base with two outs.

The next Dartmouth batter laid down an artful bunt to third base, and beat the throw on a close-call where the tie went to the runner. Groom then allowed a hit up the middle, which tied the game, 4-4.

The Crimson were unable to score in the bottom of the seventh, leaving an intentionally walked Lange on base.

In the first at bat of extra innings, freshman Katie McEachern lifted a home run to left field for Dartmouth, which would end up being the game winning home run.

Groom pitched seven innings for the Crimson, giving up four earned runs on 14 hits and totaling four strikeouts. Ruiz was awarded the loss for giving up the game-winning run in the eighth.

Lange hit her thirteenth home run of the season, a solo shot, giving her sole position of the program’s all-time career home run record.

“I think we played our hearts out today, which is part of why it’s so hard [to lose],” Olson said. “Everybody gave 100% of what they had, and I can leave the field knowing we played our hearts out and that’s all we can do.”

—Staff writer Jacob W. Lynch can be reached at jacoblynch@college.harvard.edu.