Bats Come Alive; Baseball Splits Weekend Series With Brown

Shipping down to Providence for a four-game series with Brown to open Red Rolfe Division play this weekend, Harvard (16-15, 5-7 Ivy) took the middle two games against the Bears (8-20, 4-8) behind a 21-run outburst one day and strong pitching the next. But with Dartmouth sweeping Yale, the Crimson fell three games behind the seven-time defending division champion Big Green.

“Having a game tomorrow [against UMass] is actually pretty nice for us,” senior Jake McGuiggan said.“Obviously we didn’t want to finish this weekend with a loss, but I think it’s nice for us to get back at it tomorrow with the opportunity to play a night game at Fenway [for the Beanpot final] on the line.”

BROWN 8, HARVARD 7

Sunday’s second game was a back-and-forth affair with the hosts eventually coming out on top. A two-run home run by captain Ethan Ferreira in the top of the ninth proved not to be enough, as Brown reliever Reid Anderson was able to pick up the final two outs and secure the win.

Crimson senior Tanner Anderson was not at his best after having to finish Sunday’s first game, lasting just two and a third innings and giving up four earned runs. With the Bears up 4-2 after three innings, Harvard fought back to take a brief one-run lead.

But Brown tacked on four runs with two-run sixth and eighth innings off Harvard relievers Nick Scahill and T.J. Laurisch. Robert Henry had three hits for the hosts, while Noah Shulman drove in three runs.

HARVARD 3, BROWN 2

While both games Saturday were dominated by offense, Sunday’s first game was a pitchers’ duel. Junior Sean Poppen led the Crimson to the win, throwing six and a third innings, allowing two runs and striking out 10. The righty improved to 4-2 on the season.

After loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh, Poppen was replaced by Anderson. A Henry sac fly made it 3-2 but the righty was able to get Jake Levine to groundout to end the game. Senior Jack Colton drove in two runs, and freshman Connor Quinn had two hits for Harvard.

“With the Ivy League, you can lose one in a nail biter and then 30 minutes later, you’re battling again,” sophomore Matt Hink said.“It’s very important for our team to wipe it out of our mind and get ready to go 15 minutes later to warm up and prepare for the next game.”

HARVARD 21, BROWN 7

The Crimson offense exploded for 21 runs and 23 hits to give senior Matt Timoney his team-leading fifth win of the season. Harvard scored in every inning but the sixth. Hink led the way for the Crimson, going 5-for-5 with two doubles and four runs batted in.

“For me, that was for sure my best day at the plate as far as production went and [with] my approach,” Hink said. “I was really seeing it well and I thought my approach was much better than it has been and that also carried into today.”

The offense hit .451 on the afternoon to raise its Ivy League batting average to .362. Timoney surrendered five earned runs but struck out eight in his five and a third innings of work. The two-touchdown margin of victory was Harvard’s largest since 2006.

BROWN 9, HARVARD 6

The Bears scored eight runs in sophomore Nick Gruener’s first two innings of work to down the Crimson in Saturday’s first game. Brown was aided by three home runs off Gruener, who had only surrendered one long ball entering the day and had been dominant last weekend against Princeton.

Down 9-1 after four innings, the Harvard offense chipped away at the lead with five runs in the game’s final three innings. Ferreira, Colton, and senior Mike Martin hit home runs for the Crimson. Freshmen Garrett Rupp and Noah Zavolas were solid out of the bullpen, allowing just three hits in three innings of combined work.

“That first game was definitely a kick in the teeth for us,” McGuiggan said.“In between games, we just focused up and knew that we really needed to respond in a big way. Once the offense started to get going a little, it just built on that. That’s definitely the best offensive display we’ve shown.”

—Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at sgleason@college.harvard.edu.