Crimson Splits, Faces Must-Win Games Today

Two games behind Rolfe Division leaders Brown and Dartmouth, the Harvard baseball team (14-22, 7-7 Ivy) didn’t do itself any favors in splitting its Saturday doubleheader against division bottom-dweller Yale (17-18-1, 4-10) in New Haven, Conn. After winning the opener, 7-4, the Crimson dropped a lopsided 15-1 nightcap. Now, the Crimson will have to win both of its remaining games against the Bulldogs today to keep itself in playoff contention before it takes on the surging Big Green next weekend.

“We’ve got our backs against the wall,” Harvard coach Joe Walsh said. “And we’ve got to fight our way out.”

YALE 15, HARVARD 1

When the Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh of their early game loss, it seemed to be too little, too late—a small bright spot in a day dominated by the Crimson. In fact, it was just the opening of the floodgates.

“We felt good even though the end [of the first game] was scary,” Walsh said. “Yale carried that momentum into the second game.”

Its next inning at the plate, Yale picked up right where it left off, scoring as many runs in the first inning as Harvard had scored in the entire first game.

“Our pitching wasn’t there, our bats weren’t there,” junior captain Tyler Albright said. “It was a bad game.”

The slaughter began when the Bulldogs’ first three batters all reached base. With the bases loaded and no outs, all it took was a single to second base from Yale senior Trygg Larson-Danforth to put the Bulldogs on the board. Junior Trey Rallis followed suit to give Yale a 2-0 lead, and sophomore Charlie Neil walked to put the Bulldogs up by three. The Crimson finally managed to get an out when senior Chris Rouches caught a fly ball from Bulldogs catcher Ryan Brenner, but even Brenner was able to pick up an RBI, with Larson-Danforth coming home on Brenner’s sacrifice fly.

“Uncharacteristically of [sophomore pitcher] Conner [Hulse], Yale was roughing him up,” Walsh said.

Yale would go on to score 13 runs before Harvard picked up one.

“We couldn’t get strikes,” Albright said. “Meanwhile, their starter [Vinny Lally] was getting strikes. He was getting ahead [on batters]. He had five innings with a no-hitter.”

The offensive drought was finally broken when Rouches sent Albright home with a left-field single in the seventh inning, but the Bulldogs answered back in the bottom half with two more runs, pushing the final margin to 14.

HARVARD 7, YALE 4

The expression “Good things come to those who wait” doesn’t usually apply to baseball. But with sophomore Brent Suter keeping the Bulldog batters in check, the Crimson had time to get its offense going and gradually build an imposing lead over the course of the game.

“Brent Suter was outstanding,” Walsh said. “He had a terrific fastball, curve ball. He was throwing strikes and mowing their running game down.”

The sophomore pitcher allowed nine hits and three runs in six innings before being replaced by classmate Will Keuper.

“We give him the ball, and he always comes through for us,” Albright said of Suter. “When he does that, it brings a lot of confidence to our hitters.”

And Harvard’s hitters helped Suter out too. Before the second-year hurler even hit the mound in the bottom of the first, the Crimson had mounted a one-run lead thanks to the bat and speed of junior Sam Franklin. Shortly after junior Dillon O’Neill had been picked off, Franklin hit a deep ball down the right field line for what looked to be a triple. But a throwing error by Yale’s rightfielder allowed Franklin to reach home plate for the first run of the game.

The Crimson bats wouldn’t strike again until the top of the third, by which time the Bulldogs had tied the game off a run by Charlie Neil. Once again, Franklin managed to score off a triple—this time from classmate Sean O’Hara—to put Harvard back up by one. O’Hara himself scored the next play on a sacrifice bunt attempt from Albright—though the junior catcher was safe at first thanks to a Yale error.

“We had some timely hitting,” Walsh said. “A good squeeze bunt by Ty Albright.”

With a sophomore holding court on the mound, the juniors continued to light it up at the plate. After freshman Kyle Larrow advanced to first base after being hit by a pitch and to second on a wild pitch, O’Neill sent the rookie home with a left-field single. Quieter was the impact the junior made by stealing second base two batters later. The stolen base allowed the outfielder to score when O’Hara hit a ground-rule double. The shortstop, who was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs, scored off an Albright single the next play.

“It kind of all came together in the first game,” Walsh said.

The Crimson kept on rolling until the seventh inning, when the Bulldogs were able to put together a late-game rally, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut in half a six-run lead. But Harvard still managed finish off the game with a convincing three-run win, one that would prove a stark contrast from the next game.

“We’re going to try to emulate the first and learn from the second,” Albright said.

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.