­With a trip to the Ivy League Championship Series at stake on the season’s final weekend, the Harvard softball team matched up against Dartmouth for a home-and-home series.

The Big Green (23-16, 16-4 Ivy) entered the weekend three games ahead of the Crimson (23-21, 13-7) in the standings, so Harvard needed to sweep the four-game series to come away with the Ivy North title. But by dropping its first game on Friday afternoon, the team’s fate was sealed for the remainder of the weekend.

Saturday’s last game proved to be a tearful goodbye for the Crimson as the team graduates seven seniors, many of whom have had a profound influence on the team in their four years.

“I guess to sum it up, they’ve been a special class,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “They’ve been great friends, they’ve been great teammates to each other, they’ve been great leaders on this team, and I think they’re some of the best people I was lucky to be around.”

DARTMOUTH 4, HARVARD 1

Although the fate of its season had already been decided, the Crimson fought until the end of its final matchup against the Big Green at Soldiers Field.

Harvard struck first in the fourth inning, but Dartmouth answered in their next at bats by scoring three runs. The Big Green tacked on another in the top of the seventh to widen the gap, and the Crimson was unable to respond.

Senior Gabrielle Ruiz got the start in the circle for Harvard, and classmate Laura Ricciardone came on in the fifth to close out the game.

“This weekend as a whole we were able to come out really strong,” senior outfielder Andrea Del Conte said. “We obviously wanted to come out and compete for a championship, but we gave it our all the whole way through.”

HARVARD 3, DARTMOUTH 2

In a game that came down to the wire, it was senior infielder Adrienne Hume that delivered the final victory of the season for the Crimson.

With the score tied at two in the bottom of the seventh, Hume stepped up to the plate with runners at first and second and ripped a single down the left field line, bringing in the winning run.

For the majority of the game, the teams were tied. The game remainedscoreless until the fifth inning when Dartmouth outfielder Tiffany Dyson hit a two-run home run.

Harvard answered immediately in the bottom of the inning by stringing together two runs after a double by sophomore infielder Catherine Callaway scored senior catcher Katherine Appelbe and junior outfielder Haley Davis.

It was not until the bottom of the seventh that the Crimson scored again, securing the win.