Tough Schedule Brings Tougher Results in California

SAN DIEGO—Harvard (1-14) may have had the hardest schedule in all of college baseball last week. The Crimson played eight games in seven days during its spring break trip to California and faced ranked teams in six of those contests.

“[San Diego State head coach] Tony Gwynn said to me the other night, ‘I’ve never seen anybody do what you guys are doing’,” Harvard coach Joe Walsh said.

In the first four games of the break, the California teams routed Harvard, but in the second half of the trip the Crimson began to compete for wins. The squad, however, still dropped all four contests.

Against No. 4 Long Beach State (17-6), Harvard struggled badly and managed just one hit in a 15-0 loss. The Crimson then turned it around quickly and fought hard in a 5-2 loss to No. 3 UC Irvine (18-3, 1-1 Big West) and a 4-0 defeat at the hands of San Diego State (16-10). In its final game out West, Harvard fell 14-4 to No. 14 San Diego (19-9, 1-1 WCC).

“You have to tip your cap,” captain Matt Vance said. “[The teams are] well coached, play hard, and are in the games for all nine innings. They’re definitely some tough teams and they’ll be playing for the national championship.”

The Crimson failed to sustain enough offensive rallies over break and scored just six runs in the final four games. Injuries to senior star Tom Stack-Babich and sophomore starter Eric Eadington also impacted the team’s performance.

SAN DIEGO 14, HARVARD 4

Harvard started the game red hot. A two-run single by junior Harry Douglas and an RBI by sophomore Dan Zailskas—who had three knocks on the day—put the Crimson up 3-0. In the third, however, the Toreros blew up with seven runs off freshman starter Zach Hofeld. San Diego then tallied four more against freshman Anthony Nutter in the next inning.

The Toreros recorded 11 hits on the day and took advantage of walks and hit batsmen to score their runs. The Harvard pitching staff walked five San Diego batters and plunked six others.

“Pitching’s the name of the game,” Walsh said. “They got it and we don’t. There it goes. We’re beyond that point now where we should be throwing more strikes.”

SAN DIEGO STATE 4, HARVARD 0

The mid-week game was a pitcher’s duel between Zailskas and the Aztecs’ Jon Berger.

Berger pitched eight innings and held the Crimson to just two hits, while Zailskas threw seven strong innings relinquishing six hits and four runs.

“Dan did a tremendous job out there,” Walsh said. “He used his changeup pretty effectively and that was the difference in his outing. The big thing is that he wasn’t walking guys.”

A controversial play came in the sixth inning when it looked like Zailskas had struck out a batter on a 3-2 pitch with two outs. The umpire called ball four, however, and in the next at bat, San Diego State’s Cory Vaughn hit a three-run homer.

“I know he had the kid struck out,” Walsh said. “It sure would’ve been nice going into that ninth inning with a 1-0 situation.”

Harvard threatened with two men on and no outs in the ninth, but a strikeout and double play ended the game.

UC IRVINE 5, HARVARD 2

The game against UC Irvine may have been the most impressive contest of the break. Even though the Crimson lost, Harvard outplayed the Anteaters, who made it to the College World Series last season.

The Crimson recorded 13 hits to UC Irvine’s nine and held the Anteaters scoreless in all but two innings.

The reason Harvard remained close was relief pitcher Max Warren. After sophomore starter Jonathan Strangio gave up a grand slam, the senior entered the game and pitched 7.2 innings, giving up seven hits and just one run.

“We’ve had a couple guys...like Sestanovich, Zailskas, and Warren... that going into the season we didn’t think we were going to get big innings from,” Walsh said. “That’s been a boost in the arm.”

Senior Taylor Meehan led the Crimson with a three-hit game from the leadoff spot. The batters in the second and third hole, junior Matt Rogers and Vance, each had two hits and an RBI.

LONG BEACH STATE 15, HARVARD 0

The Dirtbags punished Harvard and held the Crimson to just one hit in this collapse.

“We’re not hitting that well,” Vance said. “I don’t really know why. We have the capabilities, but part of it is seeing this kind of pitching.”

Harvard ace Shawn Haviland, was pummeled for 15 hits and 10 earned runs in five innings of work. The largest offensive assault came in an eight-run third inning.

“When Haviland gives up 10 runs and doesn’t throw poorly you have to tip your hat to the opposing team’s offense,” Vance said. “Shawn’s going to get drafted and play professionally and they were still able to make solid contact on a lot of pitches.”

The Crimson also struggled defensively and committed five errors on the day.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to New England and seeing if we can learn from what we’ve done,” Walsh said. “You are what you are, though. Right now we’re a struggling ball club trying to find ways to win.”

—Staff writer Jake I. Fisher can be reached