Baseball Homers Way to Victory

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—It took three weeks of draining Ivy League baseball, seven days of cruel anticipation, and a weekend of irritating rain delays before Brown finally managed to swipe a share of the Red Rolfe Division lead from the Harvard baseball team.

The Bears held it for all of 30 minutes.

In Game 1 of yesterday’s long-awaited doubleheader showdown, Brown (18-16, 10-4 Ivy) overcame Crimson slugger Josh Klimkiewicz’ dramatic 8th-inning home run, winning by a score of 6-5.

In Game 2, Harvard (20-11, 11-3 Ivy) responded by exploding Brown’s co-leader status in a hail of hits and home runs, winning 16-4.

And thus, after nearly seven hours of baseball under a chilly cloud cover, the Crimson retired to Cambridge in the same position it started—one game up in the standings.

“It’s been a long day,” Klimkiewicz laughed.

With the split, Harvard and Brown mathematically eliminated Dartmouth (12-17, 7-9), last year’s Red Rolfe champion and losers of three of four against Yale, from contention. The Crimson will again face the Bears in Providence at 1 p.m. today.

HARVARD 16, BROWN 4

In hammering Brown behind 17 hits and three home runs, Harvard managed to do its damage with uncharacteristic fairness.

Juniors Zak Farkes and Lance Salsgiver and sophomore Brendan Byrne all blasted home runs. No fewer than seven starters finished with multi-hit games.

All told, it was a pleasant performance from a lineup that has recently relied on hot-hitting individuals to produce.

“It was only a matter of time,” said Byrne, whose three-run shot in the sixth inning “opened the game,” according to Harvard coach Joe Walsh.

Added Byrne, “we’ve been kind of waiting for a major explosion like this for awhile now. And today it happened.”

Salsgiver kick-started the output by golfing a low fastball over the left-centerfield fence in the second inning. The solo shot was Salsgiver’s first home run of the season, and the team’s first hit of the game.

“Lance got us ahead,” Walsh said. “When you drop a close game like [Game 1], then fall behind in the second game, you know, momentum seems to really shift. And Lance gets the homer.”

It was Byrne’s home run, nonetheless—a high liner into the netting beyond Aldrich Field’s left field fence—that gave the Crimson a 7-1 lead and the comfort to continue its assault on the box score.

Byrne has given coaches little choice but to find a regular place for his hot bat. He opened the season as the team’s incumbent second baseman, but faced questions early on about his ability to supplement his solid glovework with consistent hitting.

Flash forward to yesterday, and Byrne raised his average to a team second-best .360, adding three more RBI. Ironically, he did it from the DH slot.

“Pretty good move, huh?” Walsh joked. “I tell you what, he’s been battling all year for us, doing a nice job. He doesn’t get cheated up there.”

Senior Mike Morgalis hurled 7 2/3 strong innings on the mound, yielding two earned runs and only five hits. After suffering through an injury-marred offseason, Morgalis (5-0) has become the staff’s most reliable workhorse, leading the team in innings pitched. His ERA of 2.67—the league’s third-best—remained unchanged after yesterday.

“As a pitcher I was throwing a lot of strikes today,” Morgalis said. “I felt like I could keep them honest.”

For Walsh, the secret to Morgalis’ dominance was simple: “I thought he had his best fastball of the season this year,” he said.

BROWN 6, HARVARD 5

Klimkiewicz’ second home run of Game 1 appeared to win the game.

A two-run mammoth shot that impacted a local house—it actually cleared some netting designed to protect the quiet, tree-lined avenue beyond left field—Klimkiewicz’ homer built a 5-3 Harvard lead in the extra eighth inning of the seven-inning game.

“I tell you, he crushed it,” Walsh said.

Reported Klimkiewicz, “it was a fastball. [Pitcher Ethan Silverstein] took some off just to try to throw a strike. And he threw it inside. I saw it the whole way. Just put a good swing on it.”

Regardless, with Harvard ace Frank Herrmann staying on the mound to finish the game, Brown had designs on victory.

Bears first baseman Danny Hughes led off the bottom of the eighth by walking on four straight pitches. Devin Thomas, the catcher, followed that at-bat by homering to right-centerfield on an outside slider, tying the game at five.

The Bears then loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch, an errant fielder’s choice off a bunt—Harvard reliever Steffan Wilson was late on the force throw to second—and an intentional walk.

With one out, Brown second baseman Paul Christian bounced a grounder to short for an unconvertible—and unsuccessful—double play attempt. The lead runner scored, and Brown won.

“That,” Morgalis said, “was an emotional loss.”

—Staff writer Alex McPhillips can be reached at rmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.