Baseball Destroys Holy Cross with 19-3 Win

A nine-run fifth inning solidified the Harvard baseball team’s 19-3 victory over Holy Cross (12-20, 7-11 Patriot League) in a non-conference match-up yesterday at O’Donnell Field.

Six Crimson batters pounded out hits in the inning, but the real star was freshman third baseman Josh Klimkiewicz. With the bases loaded, the Crusaders made a pitching change, calling in junior James DeLucia. After watching a few warm-up throws, Klimkiewicz launched DeLucia’s first pitch over the leftfield fence for a grand slam to grant Harvard an 8-3 lead.

“He’s been battling,” Harvard coach Joe Walsh said. “He had a big grand slam against Yale, and now I can’t wait to find out if anyone has ever had three in a season.”

Yesterday’s contest was meaningless in determining the rest of Harvard’s season, as this weekend’s games will tell the true story about the team’s future. With the Crimson (16-19, 9-7 Ivy) clinging to a one-game Red Rolfe division lead over Dartmouth heading into a four-game weekend set against the Big Green, freshman second baseman Zak Farkes applauded yesterday’s team effort.

“As a team, our confidence is higher than it’s ever been,” Farkes said. “It’s a good feeling to have going into the biggest weekend of the year.”

Klimkiewicz’s grand slam was the last hit in a string of six batters who all got on base to start the inning. After he cleared the bases, all six runners had scored and the Crimson still had no outs.

With Harvard trailing 3-2, junior leadoff hitter Bryan Hale had begun the fifth with a hard hit to first base and out-raced Crusader pitcher Andrew Sweeny to the bag for an infield single. Hale then used the same speed to steal second.

Farkes followed up with a single before freshman Lance Salsgiver, coming off of a great offensive performance on Monday in Harvard’s series against Brown, claimed the first RBI of the inning. Salsgiver sent his hit whizzing past the third baseman to even the score at 3. Senior Brian Lentz, who went 5-for-5 on the day, advanced all the runners with a single, to load the bases.

“Brian Lentz has been right in the middle of everything we have done,” Walsh said. “Every game, you can count on him.”

After a good battle at the plate, sophomore designated hitter Schuyler Mann exhausted Sweeny’s pitches and walked, scoring Farkes. That kept the bases loaded for Klimkiewicz’s grand slam.

Harvard plated three more runs in the inning.

After sophomore shortstop Ian Wallace grounded out, DeLucia gave up a walk to freshman right fielder Chris Mackey. The Crimson was back in business when freshman first baseman Mike Dukovich joined him on the base path with a hit through the infield.

That brought up Hale for the second time in the inning, and he bashed a sacrifice fly to centerfield to plate senior Nick Seminara, who was pinch running for Mackey. Farkes, the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, then cranked out a two-run homer over the leftfield fence to finish the scoring barrage of the inning.

Senior pitcher Madhu Satyanarayana claimed the win for Harvard, racking up eight strikeouts while giving up seven hits in seven innings.

“It’s been a while, and it was good to get back out there,” Satyanarayana said. “I just wanted to go out there and pitch well. I’d like to thank Coach for having faith in me.”

The Crusaders started the game looking sharp when they jumped ahead 1-0 and held on through the first four innings with a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the first, Holy Cross sophomore Mike Schell sent the ball down the third base line to bring home sophomore Drew Bigda, who had doubled. Holy Cross increased its lead to 2-0 in the top of the second, using a walk and error to help freshman Tom Potvin around the bases.

Harvard responded in the bottom of the inning when Bigda hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to bring home Wallace.

After the Crusaders scored again in the third, the Crimson answered with another run in the bottom of the inning to make it 3-2. Lentz walked, stole second and then came home on a single by Mann.

Holy Cross was done scoring for the day, and the rest of the game belonged to Harvard. It added three more runs in the seventh with a single from Seminara and doubles from Farkes and Lentz. Seminara, Farkes and sophomore Rob Wheeler scored.

The bottom of the eighth seemed like a replay of the fifth. The Crimson stopped running the bases as aggressively but still tallied five more runs.

Walsh praised his younger players for coming through in the team effort.

“We have a fine group of freshmen infielders with a lot of depth,” he said. “We’ve got some good athletes in that class.”