GLORY DAYS: After Two-Year Reign Delay, Baseball Restores Dynasty

Welcome back, Harvard baseball dynasty.

With a two-game sweep of two-time defending Ivy champion Princeton at O’Donnell Field on Saturday, Harvard capped an improbable run to its first Ivy title since 1999 and returned to the top of the league it dominated during the late 1990s.

“It was awesome,” said senior pitcher Chaney Sheffield with a smile. “It couldn’t have worked out better. I can’t even articulate how wonderful this is.”

With the win, the Crimson earned an automatic bid to an NCAA regional beginning May 31. 64 teams advance to the first round of regional play.

After claiming the first game 5-1 behind a superb complete game performance from senior Justin Nyweide, the Crimson (20-23, 16-7 Ivy) took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of game two.

With Harvard playing as visitor on its own field due to the Ivy Championship format, junior closer Barry Wahlberg trotted to the mound to face the heart of the Tigers’ order. After striking out designated hitter Jon Miller and first baseman Ryan Eldridge, Wahlberg got sophomore catcher Tim Lahey to chop a grounder to third.

Senior Nick Carter fielded the ball and fired to first. As the ball popped into senior Josh San Salvador’s mitt, Carter hurled his glove into the sunny afternoon sky and the players swarmed the field in ecstasy to pile high on the infield grass.

“Our goal before the game was to end with a pile-on,” Nyweide said, “and that’s what we ended with.”

The championship came after a season of stark contrasts for the Crimson.

After struggling in trips to Texas and Florida, Harvard entered Ivy play with a 3-12 record. But behind excellent starting pitching, the Crimson rebounded to post a 13-7 Ivy mark and a 2-1 victory over Brown in a one-game playoff for the Red Rolfe division crown.

The victory set up the showdown with Lou Gehrig Division champion Princeton (22-23, 13-9), which the Crimson swept in two games during the regular season.

“We turned it around after a lot of people counted us out at the beginning,” senior leftfielder Javy Lopez said. “It’s special.”

It is Harvard’s 18th Ivy title, and the first since the team’s current seniors were freshmen. The Crimson claimed three straight league crowns from 1997-1999 before Princeton stopped the streak.

Harvard 2, Princeton 1

With the Ivy League title there for the taking and the Crimson struggling to score runs, Harvard looked, as it did all year, to its pitching staff.

Sheffield (3-1) pitched five innings of three-hit ball before yielding the mound to sophomore Kenon Ronz with a 2-1 lead. Ronz and Wahlberg combined to allow just two hits while striking out seven Tigers in four innings of scoreless relief.

Sheffield, who has emerged in his final season as a reliable weekend starter, took the crown-clinching victory.

“I have been a bullpen pitcher for the last three years,” Sheffield said. “Who would think that I’d be starting an Ivy championship game? Wow.”

With the score tied at 1-1 after three innings, the Crimson plated the eventual game-winner in the top of the fourth.

Freshman catcher Schuyler Mann led off the inning with a double off of the wall in left-center field and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by San Salvador. After Carter flied out, freshman right fielder Ian Wallace singled up the middle to drive in Mann with the winning run.

The Tigers tried to answer in the bottom of the inning. Freshman centerfielder Adam Balkan stroked a base hit to center, but was thrown out at second when Miller grounded into a fielder’s choice. Miller advanced to second on a wild pitch by Sheffield, putting the tying run in scoring position with only one out.

Eldridge then lined a shot to left field, but Lopez charged in to make the tough catch, saving a run. After Sheffield walked Lahey, he got sophomore right fielder Ryan Riech to fly out to left to end the threat.

Sheffield retired the side in order in the fifth before being relieved.

“Chaney did a good job,” said Harvard Coach Joe Walsh. “The kid’s a battler, and he wanted to stay in there. I thought taking him out with a three-hitter after five might have been a little early, but [it all worked out].”

Ronz retired the side in order in both the sixth and seventh innings. Five of the six outs came by strikeout. After giving up a lead off single to junior second baseman Mike Chernoff and a fielder’s choice to sophomore third baseman Steve Young, Walsh called for his closer.

Wahlberg allowed one hit in the eighth before setting the Tigers down in order in the ninth to pick up his fifth save of the season.

“They’ve been phenomenal the past three weeks,” said Sheffield. “I never like to get the ball taken away from me, but great job. Great call by the coach.”

Harvard scored its first run in the top of the first inning. After freshman Rob Wheeler and senior second baseman Faiz Shakir both flied out, senior shortstop Mark Mager singled to left field—one of his six hits on the day—and stole second base.

Sophomore Trey Hendricks, who leads the team in batting average and RBI, singled up the middle to drive in Mager and put the Crimson ahead 1-0. Harvard never trailed in the two games.

“We scratched for a couple of runs,” Walsh said. “I didn’t really think we hit that well, but when you are able to get up, get good defense and throw strikes, good things happen.”

Princeton scored its only run in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, Sheffield walked Young on a full count. When Sheffield’s pick-off attempt in the dirt got by San Salvador, Young advanced to third on the error.

Senior shortstop Pat Boran then lined a single to left field just out of the reach of a leaping Mager to drive in the Tigers only run.

Junior Ryan Quillian (3-5) took the loss for the Tigers.

Harvard 5, Princeton 1

Nyweide (5-3) struggled early, walking the first two batters he faced on nine pitches, but rebounded to throw perhaps his best game of the year to give Harvard the 1-0 lead in the series.

In his final seven innings of work, Nyweide allowed only three hits and three walks while striking out nine Tigers. Nywiede struck out a career-high 14 batters for the game.

“After he settled down it was obvious that no one was going to touch him,” Mager said. “That was huge.”

It took Nyweide a while to settle down, though.

After walking Boran and leftfielder Eric Ftizgerald to put men on first and second with no outs, Nyweide got out of the jam. He struck out Balkan swinging on a full-count offering, and sophomore catcher Mickey Kropf completed the double play by throwing out Boran , who was attempting to steal third.

Nyweide then walked Miller to put men on first and second with two outs. But after a chat on the mound with Walsh, Nywiede froze Eldridge with a 1-2 breaking ball at the knees for an inning-ending strikeout.

“I was definitely my own worst enemy in the first two innings,” said Nyweide, who threw a career high 155 pitches in the outing. “But one of the tricks I learned over the summer was you’ve got to fake it ‘til you make it.”

After falling behind 1-0 on an RBI double by Riech that scored Lahey in the top of the second, the Crimson took the lead for good in the bottom of the third.

Lopez chopped an infield hit over Princeton starter Ross Ohlendorf to lead off the inning. Wallace laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Lopez, but senior third baseman Erik Voelker’s throw pulled Eldridge off of the bag at first. A fielding error by Voelker on a bunt by senior second baseman Faiz Shakir loaded the bases.

After Mager struck out looking, Hendricks delivered what proved to be the game-winning RBI with a single through the right side that scored Lopez and Wallace.

The Crimson’s third run came in dramatic fashion. Lopez doubled to start the fifth inning, and advanced to second on a groundout by Wallace. Then, with Shakir at the plate, Walsh called for a suicide squeeze.

Lopez took off early, and scored when Ohlendorf’s pitch was in the dirt.

“He broke real early,” Walsh said. “I think we lucked out. They had a freshman on the mound that’s a good, strong guy, but I think we rattled him.”

Ohlendorf (6-3) took the loss in five innings of work.

The Crimson’s final two runs came in the sixth. Hendricks led off with a ground -rule double that bounced over the right field fence. San Salvador and Kropf walked to load the bases, bringing up sophomore Marc Hordon. Hordon hit a hard grounder that went under Boran’s glove at short, scoring both Hendricks and San Salvador to give Harvard a comfortable 5-1 lead.

Harvard 2, Princeton 1

at O’Donnell Field Field, Cambridge, MA

Harvard (21-22, 16-7) 100 100 000—2 9 1

Princeton (22-23, 13-9) 001 000 000—1 5 1

2B: H—Mager 2, Mann 2, Wallace. SB: H—Mager, Hale. CS: H—Mager. P—Balkan. Pitchers: H—Sheffield W, 3-1 (5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 K), Ronz (2.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 K), Wahlberg S, 8 (1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 K). P—Quillian L, 3-5 (5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 K), Pauly (4.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 K). Attendance: 759

Harvard 5, Princeton 1

at O’Donnell Field, Cambridge, MA

Princeton (22-22, 13-8) 010 000 000—1 5 4

Harvard (19-24, 15-7) 002 012 00x—5 7 0

2B: P—Riech. H—Hendricks, Lopez. SB: P—Boran. H—Mager, Lopez. CS: P—Boran. H—Shakir. Pitchers: P—Ohlendorf L, 6-3 (5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 K), Boehle (3.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 K). H—Nyweide W, 5-3 (9.0 IP, 1 ER, 14 K). Attendance: 678