Batsmen Back East; Top Northeastern, 7-6

There's no place like home for the Harvard baseball team.

After a frustrating trip to California, where it faced some of the top teams in the country over spring break, the Crimson beat the Terriers at Northeastern, 7-6, in the first game of yesterday's doubleheader. The Crimson battled to a 3-3 tie in the second game, which was called off after nine innings due to darkness.

"[Northeastern's] one of the stronger teams in the ECAC," senior Casey Cobb said. "I thought our intensity was really good for a non-league game."

Sophomore Zach Hope started on the mound for Harvard in the first game, holding Northeastern to four runs. He was replaced by freshman Pete Rau in the bottom of the fourth inning, and senior Greg Ubert came in to finish out the game with the score tied in the bottom of the seventh.

Senior first baseman Rich Renninger and second baseman Cobb knocked in two runs each to pace the Crimson to a 6-6 tie, forcing the game into extra innings. Sophomore Marcel Durand's line drive to right field with the bases loaded knocked in the other two runs. Captain Dan McConaghy contributed four hits on the afternoon and second baseman Cobb added three.

Junior Tom Konjoyan scored the winning run in the top of the eighth, and Ubert hung on to close out the Terriers for the win.

"[Senior] Dave O'Connell made some fantastic saves at shortstop that were key in some of our major defensive plays," McConaghy said. "The main factors in the win were our defensive play and the solid pitching of the freshmen."

Big Factor

"The biggest factor today is that the freshmen pitchers were really great," O'Connell said. "When the pitchers do well, then the defense is able to play well."

Freshman pitcher Sean Johnston started the second game for the Crimson but was relieved by Rau in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, one man on base and the score tied.

"We didn't come through in a lot of key situations," O'Connell said. "We had opportunities [to win the second game]--we left too many guys on base. Hopefully we'll get better as the season progresses."