No Consolation For Baseball

BOSTON—Sophomore first baseman Trey Hendricks of the Harvard baseball team is many things—an imposing presence at the plate, a versatile pitcher and a .340 hitter. One thing he is not is very fast.

But Harvard Coach Joe Walsh gambled on Hendricks’ speed in the bottom of the fifth inning yesterday at Fenway Park, waving Hendricks around third on a Schuyler Mann single that had already scored one run to give the Crimson the lead. Hendricks was thrown out easily, and the one-run lead evaporated in the next inning as the Crimson fell to UMass, 5-3, in the Beanpot Consolation Game.

“Two outs, you know [Hendricks’] speed, but at that part of the ballgame, you gotta run,” Walsh said. “You’re hoping for a bad throw, a missed play, something like that.”

A three-run UMass sixth inning off junior starter Madhu Satyanarayana lifted the Minutemen to the victory. Harvard (12-19, 9-3 Ivy) has now finished last in three consecutive Beanpot tournaments, and has yet to beat UMass (15-19) in the tournament in five attempts.

The rally spoiled a solid outing for Satyanarayana, who looked nothing like he had during his previous start, a short, painful outing against Columbia. Effectively mixing three pitches, Satyanarayana (1-3) had allowed only three hits in his first five innings on the mound to keep the Crimson in front, 3-1.

“I had three pitches going there, and if you don’t have three pitches you’re gonnna get hit,” Satyanarayana said.

But Satyanarayana began to lose his control in the sixth when UMass second baseman Adam Stojanowski knocked a pitch deep into left field. Sophomore centerfielder Bryan Hale and senior right fielder Javy Lopez—playing as part of a drawn-in infield—gave chase, but the ball fell between them in front of the Green Monster for a one-out triple.

It looked as though the Crimson would escape with little damage when Satyanarayana got UMass’ hottest hitter, Aaron Senez, on a groundout to third baseman Mickey Kropf.

But an ensuing run-scoring double by UMass first baseman Jeff Altieri tied the game, and two batters later Tim Klett singled in Altieri to give the Minutemen a 4-3 lead.

With runners on first and third and shortstop Mike Athas at the plate, UMass attempted a double steal. Mann, the freshman catcher who had already gunned down a baserunner in the top of the third, threw low to shortstop Mark Mager, who caught Klett in a rundown between second and third. But Mike Kulak scored on the play, giving UMass an insurance run.

“That’s happened to us twice now,” Walsh said, referring to a successful double steal by Yale last weekend. “But if the catcher makes a good throw, it gives the shortstop a chance to react. When that ball’s thrown low like that, there’s not much you can do. But we’re not going to just let guys steal second base. We’re going to make a play on it.”

Harvard looked as if it had one last rally in store, as junior Nick Seminara got to first on a one-out, four-pitch walk off reliever Neil Schneller (2-0) and senior Chaney Sheffield’s sacrifice bunt was mishandled by Senez at third, giving the Crimson first and second with nobody out.

But Hale struck out swinging his next at-bat, and Lopez flew out to center to end the threat. The Crimson left eight runners on base yesterday, compared to UMass’ one.

“[Satyanarayana] pitched well enough to win today and we didn’t do enough with the sticks to help him,” Walsh said.

UMass got a run in the first inning off Satyanarayana after back-to-back singles gave them first and third with no outs. But Satyanaryana got Senez to ground into a run-scoring double play, and Altieri’s subsequent groundout allowed him to settle in.

Satyanarayana was near-automatic for the next few innings until Jason Twomley knocked a 1-1 fastball into the visitor’s bullpen in right in the fifth to give the Minutemen a 2-1 lead.

“It was in, but not inside enough, and I left it up around here,” Satyrayana said, hand just above his waist. “Had I maybe gotten it down here, I would’ve gotten it. He didn’t get a good piece of it, but he got enough to get it out of here.”

The Crimson strung together two runs in the bottom of the inning, keyed by a run-scoring double by Hendricks. Hendricks went 3-for-4 on the day, while Mann went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

“He’s really solidified the middle of the order for us,” Walsh said of Hendricks.

But while the heart of the order got the job done, the top of the order gave Harvard little to work with. Lopez, Mager and Carter went a combined 1-for-10 in the 1, 2 and 3 spots, respectively.

Junior Kenon Ronz came in to get the final two outs for the Crimson in the top of the seventh.

The Crimson will take on Northeastern in a rematch of the opening round of the Beanpot today at 3 p.m. The Huskies beat the Crimson, 8-4, at Fenway last Tuesday.