HANOVER, N.H. — The 2018 Dartmouth baseball schedule features a season-opening trip to perennial power Georgia Tech and a 10-game trek to California for spring break prior to the new 21-game format within the Ivy League.
In the past 25 years of Ivy League play, the conference was split into two divisions — the Rolfe (Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale) and the Gehrig (Columbia, Cornell, Penn and Princeton). Each team would play one doubleheader against opponents from the other division and two twinbills versus those within their division for a total of 20 games. The winner of each division race would then square off in the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series (ILCS), hosted by the team with the best league record.
Starting this spring, the division format will be no more with every team playing a three-game series (with each affair slated for nine innings)against each other for a total of 21. The teams with the two best records will then advance to the ILCS, which will still be hosted by the conference’s top team.
In preparation for the battles within the Ancient Eight, Dartmouth will look to continue its success from a year ago against big-name opponents when the Big Green begin the season with a three-game series at Georgia Tech with the opener set for Feb. 23. Last year Dartmouth won a pair of three-game series against nationally ranked opponents in Miami and Central Florida. The Big Green are 3-3 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, but these will be the first games in the series in 93 years.
Following three games at the Snowbird Classic during the first weekend in March, Dartmouth will fly across the country to California to play 10 games in an 11-day span. Starting off with a single game at UC Santa Barbara on March 14, the Green will also feature a four-game series at Cal State Bakersfield and a three-game set at Cal Poly to conclude the trip.
Upon returning to the Northeast, Dartmouth will host Quinnipiac on March 28, marking the fifth home opener in the last eight years to take place in the month of March. The first Ivy League series will take place at Penn in the form of a doubleheader on March 31 and a single game the following day.
The remaining non-conference games will be against 2017 Patriot League champion Holy Cross at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park on April 4, on the road at UMass Lowell and Boston College, as well as Siena back in Hanover on April 25.
Four of Dartmouth’s seven Ivy League series will be on the road, starting with Penn along with Cornell, Yale and Harvard to conclude the season. The three home series will feature Columbia, Brown and Princeton.
During the 25-year division era — all with head coach Bob Whalen at the helm — the Big Green won the Rolfe Division 10 times, including eight straight from 2008-15. Last year Dartmouth posted an overall mark of 22-17-1 with an 11-9 ledger in the Ivy League, extending its streak of winning records in league play to 10 years.
