Baseball Goes 3-1 Vs. Gehrig Division Foes

NEW YORK--Showcasing both sides of its personality, the Harvard baseball team played two clean games on its opening Ivy League weekend and two forgettable ones. HARVARD  18 PENN  16 HARVARD  6 PENN  0 HARVARD  9 COLUMBIA  1 HARVARD  8 COLUMBIA  9

As luck would have it, the Crimson dropped only one of four.

Harvard took an eight-inning, 18-16 decision from Penn on Friday. but a late rally fell short in Saturday's nightcap at Columbia, with Harvard losing 9-8 in a game the Lions tried their best to give away.

Sandwiched in between those messy two were a pair of pitching gems--sophomore John Birtwell's 6-0 shutout of Penn and freshman Ben Crockett's 9-1 mastery of Columbia--that allowed Harvard to post a 3-1 mark on the weekend.

But although the Crimson (9-8, 3-1 Ivy) took three of four from two Gehrig Division foes, nobody was talking about a successful weekend.

"We shouldn't lose to this ball club," said Harvard Assistant Coach Gary Donovan after the loss to Columbia on Saturday. Coach Joe Walsh was attending to a family matter and did not travel to New York.

"We took three out of four this weekend, but we haven't played well and we're not happy at all," Donovan said.

In comments that reflected the palpable disgust of the two-time defending Ivy champs, captain Hal Carey said the team was totally dissatisfied.

"Winning three games isn't really any consolation," Carey said. "We come into every weekend looking to win four, and we feel we're a better team than this."

Columbia 9, Harvard 8

It was a bad omen when senior Andrew

Duffell, a converted starter who had earned arelief win on Friday, lasted only two batters intothe second inning of a 9-8 loss in Saturday'snightcap at Baker Field.

The Crimson's fortunes didn't get any betterafter that.

After surrendering a leadoff home run to firstbaseman Peter Aswad and a single to centerfielderDave Lewis, Duffell clutched his right elbow inpain and had to give way to junior Derek Lennon.

"The initial word is that it's an elbow sprain,but we don't know for sure and we don't have atimetable," Donovan said.

Duffell's early exit was all the more painfulbecause the righthander seemed to have returned tothe form of his sophomore year, when he posted an8-1 record and a 2.35 ERA. Duffell spent most of1998 battling the after-effects of off-seasonsurgery but was 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in the earlygoing this season.

Pressed into rapid service from the bullpen,Lennon was stung for an RBI double by DerekJohnson--who finished 3-for-3 with two runsscored--and an RBI double from Hawkeye Wayne thatput the Lions up 3-0.

"Columbia's a good-hitting ball club, and Igive them credit for that," Carey said. "They camethrough with the big hits when they needed them."

The Crimson strung together four runs in thefourth to tie the game at 4-4, fashioning two ofColumbia's six errors into three unearned runs.Sophomore leftfielder John Portman delivered asacrifice fly, while Carey's double and freshmanthird baseman Mark Mager's infield single kept therally rolling.

Lennon (1-1) gave the lead back in the bottomof the fourth, surrendering an RBI single tocatcher Jason O'Reilly then a second home run toAswad in the fifth, getting stuck with his firstloss of the season.

Harvard rallied from a 9-4 deficit in the topof the seventh off Wayne, getting RBI singles fromMager and senior centerfielder Andrew Huling plus asacrifice fly from senior catcher Jason Keck andhad the go-ahead runs on board with two out forsenior second baseman Peter Woodfork.

Woodfork, who leads the team with a .419batting average and 26 hits, worked a 2-2 countbut bounced into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play,perfectly symbolic of Harvard's frustrations onthe afternoon.

Harvard 9, Columbia 1

Scouts from the Philadelphia Phillies and theSeattle Mariners were on hand Saturday to catch aglimpse of Columbia's multi-talented Wayne. Turnsout they should have trained their JUGS guns onBen Crockett.

The righthander baffled the Lions with aseemingly effortless complete-game three-hitter,facing just three over the minimum and strikingout five.

Crokett (1-1, 6.06 ERA) showed off a high-80sfastball with excellent location and good movementand also threw his curveball effectively forswinging strikes. He breezed through the game injust one hour and 45 minutes.

Crockett surrendered an unearned run in thefirst then allowed just three batters to reachbase the rest of the way.

Harvard got an early 2-0 lead off Columbialoser Mike Orr (0-4), who gave up 13 hits and nineearned runs in a complete game of slightly worsepedigree.

Carey scored the game's first run in the firstinning when junior designated hitter JasonLarocque grounded into a 5-5-3 double play withthe bases loaded.

Portman drove in Woodfork with a one-out singlein the second then delivered the big blow with atwo-run home run in the top of the fourth thatmade it 4-1. Portman was 0-for-7 in Friday'sdoubleheader.

Carey, Mager and Huling all hit consecutive RBIsingles in a three-run sixth as the Crimson piledon the luckless Orr.

It was otherwise a rough weekend for Carey, whowas a Second Team All-Ivy selection last year andbatted .374 but was just 4-for-17 on the weekend.He is currently hitting .224.

"It's been frustrating for most of the season,"Carey said. I feel like I hit the ball well today,but I've really got nothing to show for it."

Harvard 6, Penn 0

The Harvard coaching staff has consistentlypointed to a deep pitching staff as the club'sgreatest strength.

But performances like John Birtwell's inFriday's nightcap makes you wonder if all of thosearms really necessary.

The sophomore righthander made a smooth-as-silkchangeup work with his two-seam and four-seamfastballs, and fashioned a four-hit, 12-strikeoutshutout for his first win of the season.

"I felt like today was a good day because Ithrew three pitches for strikes," Birtwell said."I was glad I was able to pick the team up becausewe haven't been playing like ourselves lately."

Birtwell worked through the Penn order with theimpatience of a man who had to wait out a marathonthree-hour, 30-minute opener before getting on thebump.

He retired 21 of the 26 batters he faced andnever faced more than four men in one inning. Healso struck out each member of the Quaker lineupat least once.

"Birtwell's going to be a key to our season,definitely," Walsh said. "I was happy about hisapproach, his quickness and his ability to throwthree pitches, especially his changeup, forstrikes."

In fact, the only thing Birtwell did wrong onthe afternoon was dropping Erik Binkowski's flipfrom the infield side of first base afterBinkowski made a diving stop on James Mullen inthe sixth.

"I felt bad about that because Bink made such agreat play and played such great defense allafternoon," Birtwell said.

The Crimson jumped on Penn starter Mike Matternearly, staking a 4-0 lead through three. Hulingmade it 1-0 in the first when he stole third onthe front end of a double steal then cruised homewhen third baseman Will Clark bobbled catcher JeffGregorio's throw into leftfield.

Keck plated Carey with a sacrifice fly in thethird, and Larocque drove in Mager and Huling witha mammoth two-run double to right in the nextat-bat.

"We were doing things Coach mentions all thetime, making adjustments," Larocque said."[Mattern] had been starting everybody off withfastballs, so I was gearing up for one on thefirst pitch and I got it."

Carey scored twice more, off a wild pitch inthe fifth and off Huling's RBI single in theseventh, for the 6-0 final.

The Crimson's top three in the order--Carey,Mager and Huling--scored all six runs and reachedbase safely in eight of 12 plate appearances.

Harvard 18, Penn 16

It's typically a good sign when pinch runnersaren't asked to do anything but run.

Luckily for the Crimson, Jeff Bridich managedto catch, throw and hit at the same time.

The junior backup catcher, who didn't enterHarvard's wild-beyond-words 18-16 win until hepinch-ran for Keck in the top of the seventh,figured in three bang-bang plays in the lateinnings, helping Harvard avoid the embarrassmentof blowing a 12-run lead to snatch a win inFriday's opener.

Trailing 16-13, the Crimson loaded the baseswith one out in the top of the seventh when Hulingsingled, freshman shortstop Nick Carter reached onClark's and Keck walked. Bridich trotted in toreplace Keck, who represented the tying run, andwhen Larocque pounded a double to theright-centerfield gap, Walsh had no qualms aboutwaving him home.

An off-line throw from the outfield broughtQuakers catcher Jeff Gregorio up the third-baseside of the plate, and Bridich, who arrived justbefore the ball, bumped Gregorio's glove on theway in, fouling up the tag at the plate to crashin with the tying run.

"At first I thought I would have to hold up,but Coach was waving all three of us in," Bridichsaid. "I knew I wasn't going to be able to runinto [Gregorio], so I just tried to look for hismitt and hit it."

The game-tying hit was the culmination of anextremely solid opener for Larocque, who was2-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. Thejunior--who wasn't a regular at designated hitteruntil the Crimson's spring training trip--uppedhis batting average to .282 and finished theweekend with 16 RBI, good for third on the team.

"With the bases loaded and one out, all Iwanted to do was put the ball in the outfield,"Larocque said. "[Quaker reliever John Dolan] lefta pitch up and I gave it a good shot. At least itwas good enough to get all of the runs in."

In the top of the eighth, Bridich proved anunlikely hero for a second time, as the Crimsonput two unearned runs on the board for theeventual winning margin. Harvard used a droppedthird strike and two walks to load the bases forBridich with two outs, and the junior battledreliever John Dolan to a full count. He fouled offseveral 3-2 pitches before driving a hard groundball at third base.

Clark committed the cardinal fielder's sin andlet Bridich's grounder skip underneath his gloveto score Mager and Portman.

"I had fouled off three or four, all fastballs,until I finally put one in play," Bridich said. "Ipeeked down at third as I was running and I saw itgo through [Clark's] legs. I felt pretty relieved,but I was [upset] that I hadn't gotten more of theball. Still, I was happy to be part of the tworuns that won the game."

Bridich also threw out Penn shortstop GlennAmbrosius stealing as the potential winning run inthe seventh and handled a one-two-three inningfrom senior righthander Andrew Duffell in theeighth. Duffell pitched two shutout innings,striking out two and walking two to improve to2-1.

The late five-run surge salvaged a potentiallyscandalous affair, which the Crimson led 12-0after its half of the second.

Mager and Keck did the early damage, with theformer driving in four runs on a triple and asingle and the latter knocking home a pair andscoring a pair on a double and a single.

Senior Garett Vail started and worked fiveinnings, allowing nine base hits but only oneearned run, taking a no-decision after a Quakerrally in the sixth produced 10 runs and ashort-lived lead.

Miraculously, Penn batters cranked two two-outgrand slams in the frame, the first by RussFarscht off sophomore John Franey and the secondby Gregorio off junior closer Mike Madden.

Notes

It's been a tale of two seasons for theCrimson's four senior position players. Woodforkand Huling are one-two on the team in battingaverage, hitting .419 and .373 respectively.Woodfork also has 17 RBI and five stolen bases,while Huling has two homers, 20 RBI and sixsteals.

Carey and Keck, meanwhile, are bringing up therear, Carey at .224 and Kecky at .232.

"Those guys have been with us for four years,and we know what they can do," Donovan said."That's not a concern for us."

In earlier action on its spring training trip,the Crimson posted a 4-5 record, including a splitwith budding arch-rival Oklahoma State. Thatrecord is on par with past trips.

Harvard opens its home schedule on Wednesdayagainst Rhode Island. The Crimson is 22-2 sinceO'Donell Field's dedication in 1997 and was apristine 15-0 at home last season

Duffell, a converted starter who had earned arelief win on Friday, lasted only two batters intothe second inning of a 9-8 loss in Saturday'snightcap at Baker Field.

The Crimson's fortunes didn't get any betterafter that.

After surrendering a leadoff home run to firstbaseman Peter Aswad and a single to centerfielderDave Lewis, Duffell clutched his right elbow inpain and had to give way to junior Derek Lennon.

"The initial word is that it's an elbow sprain,but we don't know for sure and we don't have atimetable," Donovan said.

Duffell's early exit was all the more painfulbecause the righthander seemed to have returned tothe form of his sophomore year, when he posted an8-1 record and a 2.35 ERA. Duffell spent most of1998 battling the after-effects of off-seasonsurgery but was 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in the earlygoing this season.

Pressed into rapid service from the bullpen,Lennon was stung for an RBI double by DerekJohnson--who finished 3-for-3 with two runsscored--and an RBI double from Hawkeye Wayne thatput the Lions up 3-0.

"Columbia's a good-hitting ball club, and Igive them credit for that," Carey said. "They camethrough with the big hits when they needed them."

The Crimson strung together four runs in thefourth to tie the game at 4-4, fashioning two ofColumbia's six errors into three unearned runs.Sophomore leftfielder John Portman delivered asacrifice fly, while Carey's double and freshmanthird baseman Mark Mager's infield single kept therally rolling.

Lennon (1-1) gave the lead back in the bottomof the fourth, surrendering an RBI single tocatcher Jason O'Reilly then a second home run toAswad in the fifth, getting stuck with his firstloss of the season.

Harvard rallied from a 9-4 deficit in the topof the seventh off Wayne, getting RBI singles fromMager and senior centerfielder Andrew Huling plus asacrifice fly from senior catcher Jason Keck andhad the go-ahead runs on board with two out forsenior second baseman Peter Woodfork.

Woodfork, who leads the team with a .419batting average and 26 hits, worked a 2-2 countbut bounced into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play,perfectly symbolic of Harvard's frustrations onthe afternoon.

Harvard 9, Columbia 1

Scouts from the Philadelphia Phillies and theSeattle Mariners were on hand Saturday to catch aglimpse of Columbia's multi-talented Wayne. Turnsout they should have trained their JUGS guns onBen Crockett.

The righthander baffled the Lions with aseemingly effortless complete-game three-hitter,facing just three over the minimum and strikingout five.

Crokett (1-1, 6.06 ERA) showed off a high-80sfastball with excellent location and good movementand also threw his curveball effectively forswinging strikes. He breezed through the game injust one hour and 45 minutes.

Crockett surrendered an unearned run in thefirst then allowed just three batters to reachbase the rest of the way.

Harvard got an early 2-0 lead off Columbialoser Mike Orr (0-4), who gave up 13 hits and nineearned runs in a complete game of slightly worsepedigree.

Carey scored the game's first run in the firstinning when junior designated hitter JasonLarocque grounded into a 5-5-3 double play withthe bases loaded.

Portman drove in Woodfork with a one-out singlein the second then delivered the big blow with atwo-run home run in the top of the fourth thatmade it 4-1. Portman was 0-for-7 in Friday'sdoubleheader.

Carey, Mager and Huling all hit consecutive RBIsingles in a three-run sixth as the Crimson piledon the luckless Orr.

It was otherwise a rough weekend for Carey, whowas a Second Team All-Ivy selection last year andbatted .374 but was just 4-for-17 on the weekend.He is currently hitting .224.

"It's been frustrating for most of the season,"Carey said. I feel like I hit the ball well today,but I've really got nothing to show for it."

Harvard 6, Penn 0

The Harvard coaching staff has consistentlypointed to a deep pitching staff as the club'sgreatest strength.

But performances like John Birtwell's inFriday's nightcap makes you wonder if all of thosearms really necessary.

The sophomore righthander made a smooth-as-silkchangeup work with his two-seam and four-seamfastballs, and fashioned a four-hit, 12-strikeoutshutout for his first win of the season.

"I felt like today was a good day because Ithrew three pitches for strikes," Birtwell said."I was glad I was able to pick the team up becausewe haven't been playing like ourselves lately."

Birtwell worked through the Penn order with theimpatience of a man who had to wait out a marathonthree-hour, 30-minute opener before getting on thebump.

He retired 21 of the 26 batters he faced andnever faced more than four men in one inning. Healso struck out each member of the Quaker lineupat least once.

"Birtwell's going to be a key to our season,definitely," Walsh said. "I was happy about hisapproach, his quickness and his ability to throwthree pitches, especially his changeup, forstrikes."

In fact, the only thing Birtwell did wrong onthe afternoon was dropping Erik Binkowski's flipfrom the infield side of first base afterBinkowski made a diving stop on James Mullen inthe sixth.

"I felt bad about that because Bink made such agreat play and played such great defense allafternoon," Birtwell said.

The Crimson jumped on Penn starter Mike Matternearly, staking a 4-0 lead through three. Hulingmade it 1-0 in the first when he stole third onthe front end of a double steal then cruised homewhen third baseman Will Clark bobbled catcher JeffGregorio's throw into leftfield.

Keck plated Carey with a sacrifice fly in thethird, and Larocque drove in Mager and Huling witha mammoth two-run double to right in the nextat-bat.

"We were doing things Coach mentions all thetime, making adjustments," Larocque said."[Mattern] had been starting everybody off withfastballs, so I was gearing up for one on thefirst pitch and I got it."

Carey scored twice more, off a wild pitch inthe fifth and off Huling's RBI single in theseventh, for the 6-0 final.

The Crimson's top three in the order--Carey,Mager and Huling--scored all six runs and reachedbase safely in eight of 12 plate appearances.

Harvard 18, Penn 16

It's typically a good sign when pinch runnersaren't asked to do anything but run.

Luckily for the Crimson, Jeff Bridich managedto catch, throw and hit at the same time.

The junior backup catcher, who didn't enterHarvard's wild-beyond-words 18-16 win until hepinch-ran for Keck in the top of the seventh,figured in three bang-bang plays in the lateinnings, helping Harvard avoid the embarrassmentof blowing a 12-run lead to snatch a win inFriday's opener.

Trailing 16-13, the Crimson loaded the baseswith one out in the top of the seventh when Hulingsingled, freshman shortstop Nick Carter reached onClark's and Keck walked. Bridich trotted in toreplace Keck, who represented the tying run, andwhen Larocque pounded a double to theright-centerfield gap, Walsh had no qualms aboutwaving him home.

An off-line throw from the outfield broughtQuakers catcher Jeff Gregorio up the third-baseside of the plate, and Bridich, who arrived justbefore the ball, bumped Gregorio's glove on theway in, fouling up the tag at the plate to crashin with the tying run.

"At first I thought I would have to hold up,but Coach was waving all three of us in," Bridichsaid. "I knew I wasn't going to be able to runinto [Gregorio], so I just tried to look for hismitt and hit it."

The game-tying hit was the culmination of anextremely solid opener for Larocque, who was2-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. Thejunior--who wasn't a regular at designated hitteruntil the Crimson's spring training trip--uppedhis batting average to .282 and finished theweekend with 16 RBI, good for third on the team.

"With the bases loaded and one out, all Iwanted to do was put the ball in the outfield,"Larocque said. "[Quaker reliever John Dolan] lefta pitch up and I gave it a good shot. At least itwas good enough to get all of the runs in."

In the top of the eighth, Bridich proved anunlikely hero for a second time, as the Crimsonput two unearned runs on the board for theeventual winning margin. Harvard used a droppedthird strike and two walks to load the bases forBridich with two outs, and the junior battledreliever John Dolan to a full count. He fouled offseveral 3-2 pitches before driving a hard groundball at third base.

Clark committed the cardinal fielder's sin andlet Bridich's grounder skip underneath his gloveto score Mager and Portman.

"I had fouled off three or four, all fastballs,until I finally put one in play," Bridich said. "Ipeeked down at third as I was running and I saw itgo through [Clark's] legs. I felt pretty relieved,but I was [upset] that I hadn't gotten more of theball. Still, I was happy to be part of the tworuns that won the game."

Bridich also threw out Penn shortstop GlennAmbrosius stealing as the potential winning run inthe seventh and handled a one-two-three inningfrom senior righthander Andrew Duffell in theeighth. Duffell pitched two shutout innings,striking out two and walking two to improve to2-1.

The late five-run surge salvaged a potentiallyscandalous affair, which the Crimson led 12-0after its half of the second.

Mager and Keck did the early damage, with theformer driving in four runs on a triple and asingle and the latter knocking home a pair andscoring a pair on a double and a single.

Senior Garett Vail started and worked fiveinnings, allowing nine base hits but only oneearned run, taking a no-decision after a Quakerrally in the sixth produced 10 runs and ashort-lived lead.

Miraculously, Penn batters cranked two two-outgrand slams in the frame, the first by RussFarscht off sophomore John Franey and the secondby Gregorio off junior closer Mike Madden.

Notes

It's been a tale of two seasons for theCrimson's four senior position players. Woodforkand Huling are one-two on the team in battingaverage, hitting .419 and .373 respectively.Woodfork also has 17 RBI and five stolen bases,while Huling has two homers, 20 RBI and sixsteals.

Carey and Keck, meanwhile, are bringing up therear, Carey at .224 and Kecky at .232.

"Those guys have been with us for four years,and we know what they can do," Donovan said."That's not a concern for us."

In earlier action on its spring training trip,the Crimson posted a 4-5 record, including a splitwith budding arch-rival Oklahoma State. Thatrecord is on par with past trips.

Harvard opens its home schedule on Wednesdayagainst Rhode Island. The Crimson is 22-2 sinceO'Donell Field's dedication in 1997 and was apristine 15-0 at home last season