Bethune-Cookman, Central Florida Sweep Baseball

Despite being first to light up the scoreboard in five of its last six matchups, the Crimson failed to pick up its second win of the year in the latter two-thirds of its spring-break road trip.

Harvard (1-12) took on Bethune-Cookman (9-9, MEAC 1-2) in a three-game series Tuesday through Thursday in Daytona Beach, Fla., where the Crimson lost, 8-7, 11-2, and 6-4.

Harvard then headed further south to Orlando, Fla., for the weekend to face off against No. 19 Central Florida (16-5) in another three-game series. But the home team got the sweep once again as Harvard fell in close decisions, 4-3, 4-2, 6-5.

“Obviously it’s tough to lose there, but we did a lot of good things,” senior Jeff Reynolds said. “We know ourselves as a baseball team a lot better.”

Though the outcome may not suggest it, the Crimson managed to outhit its opponents in five of the six games. The offensive success marked a welcome departure from last season for Harvard, when it struggled to get consistent hitting from much of the lineup.

“We definitely swung the bats pretty well, but we’re struggling to string hits together,” Reynolds said.

Sophomore Steve Dill, who is currently leading the Crimson with a .382 average, had nine hits in the six-game stretch, while classmate Carlton Bailey added seven more. Rookies Zach Boden and Mike Martin contributed an additional eight and six, respectively.

“A lot of underclassmen were really stepping up for us, which is great because we’re really going to need them come the next few weeks,” senior pitcher Brent Suter said.

Although Harvard took several positives out of the weekend, the team faltered on defense in both series, racking up a total of 13 errors. Those mistakes, along with several errant pitches, cost the Crimson precious runs, often allowing its opponents to stage late comebacks.

NO. 19 CENTRAL FLORIDA 6, HARVARD 5

After taking down then-No. 19 Stetson on March 11, Harvard looked as though it was poised to take down Central Florida, the new owner of the No. 19 ranking, on Sunday afternoon. But a late surge by the Knights handed the Crimson its sixth loss in as many days.

Harvard gained momentum from Dill and Bailey—who went 4-for-4 and 2-for-3, respectively—to jump out to an early 4-0 lead by the end of the second inning. But later, four walks, two errors, and one hit batter gave Central Florida the opportunity to get back into the game.

“As a pitching staff, we had too many walks, myself included,” Suter said. “We were consistently missing way too far and hitting guys, so we really need to minimize those mistakes.”

The Knights capitalized with three runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh, claiming the lead and eventually the win.

CENTRAL FLORIDA 4, HARVARD 2

Although two hits barely sounds like enough to get a runner across home plate, it was all Central Florida needed to sneak past the Crimson in the second game of the teams’ series. In fact, with all four of their runs unearned, the Knights might not have needed any.

Central Florida captured a three-run lead on Harvard errors by the end of the second frame and kept the Crimson bats quiet other than a pair of hits by Boden and Reynolds.

Sophomore hurler Baron Davis came in as relief for junior Joey Novak, but the efforts were too little, too late as the Knights closed out the win.

CENTRAL FLORIDA 4, HARVARD 3

With late comebacks and close finishes beginning to haunt Harvard’s spring-break roadtrip, Friday’s game against Central Florida did nothing to break the pattern.

The Crimson once again outhit its opponent, and Suter struck out five batters, but Harvard pitching and fielding errors in the bottom of the eighth helped the Knights score two runs and earn the win.

“We’re out there playing some pretty good teams, and we’re really giving them a fight,” Reynolds said. “Playing competition like that can only help us…. And we know what we need to improve on.”

BETHUNE-COOKMAN 6, HARVARD 4

On Thursday, the Harvard squad saw a similar story unfold. The Crimson looked as though it was going to leave the Wildcats’ home turf with a win under its belt, but the home team once again rallied in the bottom of the eighth to capture the lead.

Bethune-Cookman had notched one run in three of the first four innings, but RBIs from Crimson sophomore Jake McGuiggan and senior J.T. Tomes tied things up for Harvard in the top of the fifth.

Sophomore Jeff Hajdin scored an unearned run off a Wildcat error in the top of the eighth, but the Crimson followed with three errors of its own, giving Bethune-Cookman three unearned runs and the victory.

“Those errors really cost us towards the end,” Suter said. “I think we definitely could’ve gotten several wins out of spring break, but we only have one to show for it.”

BETHUNE-COOKMAN 11, HARVARD 2

In the second game between Harvard and the Wildcats, the home team saw huge performances from much of its lineup, wracking up a total of 15 hits and nearly as many runs.

The Crimson jumped out to 2-0 lead in the second, but Bethune-Cookman quickly took the lead in the bottom of the frame and built it up over the next five innings despite the efforts of Harvard’s pitching staff, including junior captain Andrew Ferreira, who struck out six batters in only five innings of play.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN 8, HARVARD 7

In a manner that would prevail for the rest of the trip, the Crimson put the Wildcats in an early deficit in the teams’ first matchup last Tuesday.

Harvard put together 18 hits on the day, but Bethune-Cookman scored seven unanswered runs to negate the Crimson’s early lead and ultimately capture the one-run victory.

—Staff writer Madeleine Smith can be reached at smith21@college.harvard.edu.