Baseball Drops Three of Four at Stetson

After being swept in its first series of the season at No. 7 Arizona, the Harvard baseball team continued a tough early-season roadtrip this week, traveling to No. 19 Stetson for another non-conference test.

The Crimson managed to pick up its first win of the season Sunday night, topping the Hatters, 5-1, but dropped its remaining three contests in the four-game set at Melching Field in DeLand, Fla., to fall to 1-6 early in the season.

STETSON 9, HARVARD 7

After scoring just four runs in its first five contests, the Crimson offense broke out Sunday night and continued to do so Monday evening, plating seven runs. But the effort was not enough, as Stetson (13-3) broke a 7-7 tie with runs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to take the series win.

The Crimson was hurt by five errors, which led to six early unearned Hatters runs off Harvard freshman starter Tanner Anderson that put Harvard in a 6-2 hole.

The Crimson began to climb back from there, with freshman catcher Ethan Ferreira delivering a two-out, two-run single in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-4. After a bases-loaded walk plated another Stetson run in the bottom of the inning, the Crimson rallied to tie it in the top of the sixth, beginning with a homer to deep left by sophomore shortstop Carlton Bailey.

“[Bailey’s] definitely been a big sparkplug for us,” senior pitcher Brent Suter said. “He’s stepping up in big ways [and] playing his heart out.”

Rookie center fielder Mike Martin then singled and was driven in by junior second baseman Kyle Larrow, who ripped a double down the right field line. Senior third baseman Jeff Reynolds added a single to center, scoring Larrow to tie the game.

But after getting the first three runners on in the bottom of the seventh, Stetson retook the lead thanks to an RBI single through the right side by Spencer Theisen. Trey Blackman singled home a Stetson insurance run in the following inning.

In the top of the ninth, Hatters closer Robbie Powell got Bailey to line out with the tying runs at the corners, ending the contest. Harvard outhit Stetson, 15-13, on the afternoon—including a 3-for-5 day from sophomore outfielder Jack Colton—but it was not enough to pull out the victory.

HARVARD 5, STETSON 1

In game two of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Crimson picked up its first win of the season behind one-run, five-hit ball from sophomore Sam Dodge, junior Matt Doyle, and junior Zack Olson.

The Crimson jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first on a Reynolds sacrifice fly. After Stetson tied the game in the second on a Blackman sac fly, Reynolds responded in the top of the third with an RBI single, scoring Martin.

Harvard plated two more in the second with a two-out rally. A Bailey single to left, scoring freshman right fielder Zach Boden, was followed by an RBI triple down the right field line by senior catcher Jon Smart to extend the Harvard lead to 4-1.

“Even in the games where we haven’t scored a lot of runs, we’ve had hits, but we’ve had trouble stringing a few together,” Reynolds said. “That’s what we did in that game.”

Smart tripled again to lead off the top of the ninth and was brought in by Reynolds. That was more than enough offense for Harvard, which featured five players with two hits on the evening.

“It just felt really good to get in that win column,” Suter said. “[Losing] gets to be frustrating.”

STETSON 3, HARVARD 0

The Crimson was shut out for the second straight contest in a 3-0 loss to Stetson on Sunday afternoon.

The Hatters scored two runs in the fourth thanks to a wild pitch by Crimson starter junior Joey Novak and an RBI single through the right side by Mark Jones. Stetson added an unearned run in the seventh thanks to a Reynolds throwing error.

Hatters starter Lindsey Caughel improved to 3-0 on the season thanks to a dominating seven-inning, five-hit, 10-strikeout performance, while Robbie Powell earned his fourth save with two shutout innings in relief.

“We had a tough time getting anything going offensively,” Reynolds said. “[Caughel] pitched really well.”

STETSON 5, HARVARD 0

Harvard also dropped the series opener, as Stetson took advantage of four Crimson errors to score five unearned runs off Suter—who allowed five hits and struck out six over five innings—and junior captain Andrew Ferreira.

The Hatters scored three in the fourth thanks to a throwing error by sophomore shortstop Jake McGuiggan, which cost Harvard a chance at a double play. After the mistake, a sacrifice fly, single, walk, and two-run single by Robert Crews plated three Stetson runs before Suter finally got out of the inning.

The Hatters added unearned runs in the sixth and the seventh, while the Harvard offense could not muster a run against Stetson pitchers Kurt Schluter, Tucker Donahue, and Jake Boyd, who finished with nine total strikeouts.

“We just had a couple of tough innings,” Suter said. “We didn’t capitalize on opportunities both defensively and offensively to pull that game out.... We were happy with how we battled, but we’ve got to cut down on mistakes to be the team we want to be.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu