Baseball’s Ivy Title Hopes Dashed with Losses in Hanover

The Harvard baseball team travelled to Dartmouth yesterday, needing a sweep of the two-game doubleheader to capture its first Rolfe Division title since 2006. Instead, it was the Big Green that got to bring out the brooms.

The Crimson (17-25, 10-10 Ivy) fell to Dartmouth (23-15, 13-7), 9-0, in the first game of the twinbill—a result that clinched the division title for the Big Green—before losing, 9-7, in the nightcap.

“We got flat-out beat,” said Harvard junior captain Tyler Albright.

Junior Jason Brooks led Dartmouth’s attack from the batter’s box, hitting 6-for-7 with eight RBI and two runs scored on the day.

“We had a tough day today, but I guess that’s just baseball,” said junior left fielder Sam Franklin.

DARTMOUTH 9, HARVARD 7

With its hopes for a division title crushed, the Crimson stepped back out onto the field for its last Ivy League contest of the season.

“We like playing baseball,” Albright said. “We wanted to come back and get another win and take the series away from them even though we had no shot at the Ivy League title.”

The Big Green had other ideas. Dartmouth scored five times in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a three-run deficit and take the second game of the twinbill.

Following a double by junior Sam Bean, senior Ezra Josephson hit a two-bagger of his own, scoring Bean. After senior Jim Wren walked, Brooks came through with his sixth hit of the day, bringing home Josephson to close the deficit to one.

Freshman Ennis Coble reached on a fielder’s choice, and classmate Matt Peterson lined a double down the left field line to give the Big Green a one-run lead. Dartmouth tacked on one more insurance run on a single by sophomore David Turnbull.

Harvard put up a five-spot of its own in the visitors’ half of the seventh to open up the game and overcome a 3-1 Big Green lead. Senior Dan Zailskas doubled on the first pitch of the inning and scored on a double by classmate Chris Rouches. After advancing to third on a single by junior Dillon O’Neill, Rouches scored to tie the game on a wild pitch.

Franklin gave the Crimson the lead with an RBI single, and Albright added one more with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring sophomore Jeff Reynolds. Franklin then scored the final run of the inning by stealing home on a delayed-steal play.

Harvard freshman Joey Novak took the loss—his third of the season—surrendering two runs while facing three batters and failing to record an out.

DARTMOUTH 9, HARVARD 0

Dartmouth sophomore pitcher Kyle Hendricks threw a complete-game shutout and allowed only two Crimson hits to earn his fourth win of the season for the Big Green. Hendricks, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim while playing in high school, struck out four Harvard batters and faced only one more than the minimum while ending the Crimson’s division title hopes.

“[Hendricks] shut us down pretty good,” Albright said. “We weren’t able to make good, solid contact with him.”

Dartmouth started the scoring early and kept it up throughout the game, as the Big Green put runs on the board in every inning but the first.

The offensive onslaught commenced with Brooks’ three-run home run, his fifth of the season and one of his three hits in the game. He followed it up with an RBI double in the third and a triple that scored two more in the fifth to finish with six RBI. The junior was only a single short of the cycle.

Zailskas pitched a perfect first inning for Harvard, striking out two of the first three Dartmouth batters he faced, before he ran into trouble in the second. The senior pitcher took the loss—his first of the season—after surrendering four runs in three innings of work.

—Staff writer Evan J. Zepfel can be reached at ezepfel@fas.harvard.edu.