Bats Erupt in Nightcap as Crimson Split

Harvard baseball hasn’t had much to smile about this year. Injuries to key players and lackluster offensive performances have haunted the Crimson (3-25, 2-8 Ivy) to the point where the team is more focused on getting its record back to respectability than on competing for an Ivy League title.

In Saturday’s doubleheader against Yale (14-17-1, 6-3-1), however, Harvard found some hope that a late-season run is possible. After dropping the first game, 6-1, the Crimson exploded offensively for 12 runs in the second contest and showed why Baseball America picked the squad to win the Ancient Eight this season.

“We haven’t exploded like that in a long, long time,” Harvard coach Joe Walsh said. “We had a good feeling leaving the ball park for a change.”

In the first game of the twinbill, the Crimson struggled to get to Bulldog starter Brian Irving. The team managed just one run on five hits and let the Bulldogs jump out to a 5-0 start after two innings.

In the nightcap, the Crimson bats caught on fire. The 22-hit assault was spearheaded by freshman Dillon O’Neill and senior Taylor Meehan, who recorded a combined 10 hits at the top of the lineup as Harvard triumphed 12-2.

The outburst at the plate will undoubtedly boost the Crimson’s confidence as it marches deeper into the Ivy League season.

“As you can imagine, it really helps,” Walsh said. “For me, I haven’t had too much action lately at third base. [The 12-run game] is going to help the pitchers, the hitters, and the morale that we can come back when we’re down.”

HARVARD 12, YALE 2

The nightcap of the doubleheader was, without question, the best game Harvard has played this season.

“Everything just clicked for us in that second game,” captain Matt Vance said.

The Crimson benefited greatly from solid hitting at the top of its order. O’Neill, the leadoff hitter, reached base safely in all six plate appearances and Meehan went 5-for-6 with three RBI and three stolen bases. Meehan is now batting .343 and leads Harvard with 23 hits.

“When the top guys in the lineup can get on that completely changes how we can run our offense,” Vance said. “Dillon and Taylor absolutely led our team today.”

The Crimson stole nine bases on the day and in the first inning, junior Matt Rogers stole home after his slide snuck him around the catcher’s tag. The aggressive baserunning forced the opposing pitchers to throw fastballs, which were cranked for base hits.

Vance broke out of his slump in the second game and went 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI, and two stolen bases. Freshmen Tyler Albright and Sean O’Hara also came alive for the Crimson with multi-hit games in the middle of the order. In the fifth, senior Matt Kramer opened the game up with a two-run blast.

What is even more terrifying is that Harvard probably should have scored more—the Crimson left the bases loaded in three different innings.

Defense was also a major factor in the game—Harvard had it and Yale didn’t, as the Bulldogs recorded six errors.

“Yale’s defense let them down in the second game,” Walsh said.

Equally impressive, yet overshadowed by the offensive firepower, was the Crimson pitching. Sophomore Dan Zailskas threw 4.1 innings, allowing seven hits and one earned run before freshman Dan Berardo came in from the pen. The reliever pounded the strike zone and did not allow a hit or a run in 4.2 innings of work.

“I don’t think I’ve ever split with Yale and felt good, but we feel good that we got the bats going,” Walsh said. “We needed a win; we haven’t got too many. There’s a good feeling going on in the clubhouse.”

YALE 6, HARVARD 1

The turning point of the first game came in the second inning, when the Elis scored four times. The inning, punctuated by a two-run double by Ryan Lavarnway, included a bloop single just over the head of Meehan at second base and an infield hit.

“You take away that inning and it’s a completely different ball game,” Vance said. “There were a couple of plays that didn’t quite go our way and that cost us the game.”

Other than that inning, senior Max Warren pitched well, throwing 5.2 innings while giving up 10 hits and six runs.

Irving froze the Harvard batters all game, as he used a fastball in the low 90s and a nice curveball to hold the Crimson to four hits and one run in six innings.

The only Harvard run came on an O’Neill homer in the third inning. The freshman scored four runs, had one RBI, stole a base, and raised his average from .243 to .333 after going 6-8 in the doubleheader.

Three Bulldog players had multi-hit games. Lavarnway led the Elis with two RBI and outfielder Jake Doyle scored two runs.

—Staff writer Jake I. Fisher can be reached at jifisher@fas.harvard.edu.