Baseball Resumes Rain-Delayed Doubleheader Against Princeton, Earns Split

Going into Wednesday, the Harvard and Princeton baseball teams had been waiting eagerly for 18 days to get a chance to face off in a full game.

The teams were originally scheduled to play each other on March 29 on the Tigers’ Clarke Field, but inclement weather halted action after four full innings of play.

After resuming the postponed doubleheader, the Crimson (9-21, 4-8 Ivy) took the first game against the Tigers (10-20, 5-7) in a close 4-3 contest, but would fall in the second match, 6-2.

PRINCETON 6, HARVARD 2

After winning the day’s first contest, Harvard hoped to go two-for-two against conference rival Princeton.

“We were excited after the first win,” junior co-captain Ethan Ferreira said. “But after about five minutes…we were hungry to get the next one, because we know how important these games are.”

The Crimson’s momentum from that win rolled over into the second matchup. Harvard wasted no time jumping out to a two-run lead in the top of the first inning.Those runs came off a two-out double by Ferreira, scoring co-captain second baseman Kyle Larrow and junior right fielder Brandon Kregel.

This early offensive production would quickly be stymied by the Tigers’ stingy pitching. Luke Strieber and Nick Donatiello manned the mound for Princeton and combined for eight strikeouts to hold the Harvard batters in check the rest of the way.

But solid defense from the Crimson would maintain Harvard’s advantage throughout most of the game. Sophomore righty Nick Scahill and freshman lefty Greg Coman took care of the early innings. The duo allowed only one run to the Tigers to keep the Crimson’s lead at 2-1 going into the eighth.

“The first seven innings were all about pitching,” said junior center fielder Mike Martin. “[Princeton] didn’t come close to scoring a run.”

Unfortunately for Harvard, the defensive flood gates were about to break down. In the eighth inning, the Tigers’ offense finally hit its stride and pounded the ball around the field. Princeton strung together six hits, took advantage of wild pitches and walks, and ultimately put five runners across the plate, leaving the Crimson down 6-2 heading into the ninth inning.

Donatiello’s pitching for the Tigers would be enough to preserve the lead, and Harvard was held silent in the ninth, ultimately falling to Princeton, 6-2.

“We just kind of cooled down,” Ferreira said. “We didn’t execute as well as we could have or should have.”

HARVARD 4, PRINCETON 3

It was déjà vu for the Crimson as it stepped off the bus in New Jersey to continue where it left off last time out against the Tigers, in the top of the fifth inning with a 1-1 tie.

“The funny thing about that is…[we started] the same pitchers that were pitching when the rain came,” Martin said. “We really picked up right where we left off.”

The game was scheduled as a seven-inning matchup, leaving only three innings of regulation left to play.

The teams would exchange blows in the sixth and seventh innings. The Crimson got the first word when senior designated hitter Carlton Bailey roped a double into the left field gap and found himself in scoring position with no outs.

After Larrow moved Bailey to third base with a sacrifice bunt, Martin finished the job by driving him home on a base-hit single.

“We came in facing one of the better Ivy League pitchers,” Martin said. “I was lucky enough that he gave me a fastball that I kept my hands inside and hit right back up the middle.”

Martin did not stop there, as he used his legs to steal two bases in a row and put himself on third base with one out. He would then tag up on a foul-ball out by Ferreira, crossing the plate and putting Harvard ahead, 3-1.

But Princeton fired back in the seventh inning when Alec Keller struck for two RBIs on a homer. The blast left each team with three runs and sent the game into extra innings.

In this back-and-forth match, it would be the Crimson that got the last word. In the top of the ninth, junior left fielder Jack Colton worked his way around the bases after slapping a single to left. He eventually scored the go-ahead run on a fielding error with Princeton's Chris Bodurian in his second inning of work.

The Tigers were then shut down the rest of the way by Harvard senior right-hander Sam Dodge to cement a 4-3 victory for the Crimson in extra innings.

“Our bats came alive in the [five] innings that we played,” Ferreira said. “The game was definitely a little strange, but I think we responded very well as a team.”