Baseball Falls in Midweek Boston College Matchup After Rally Comes Up Short

­A furious comeback attempt by the Harvard baseball team came up short on Tuesday afternoon, as the Crimson (9-18, 2-6 Ivy) fell to Boston College, 11-9, on a day in which fielders struggled to corral ground balls and pitchers struggled to get outs. All told, Harvard and BC (17-11, 5-8 ACC) combined for 20 runs on 27 hits and seven errors in a strange, darkness-shortened midweek game at a rain-soaked O’Donnell Field.

“Even though we lost, it was nice to see the comeback we put together after getting down real early,” Crimson co-captain DJ Link said. “Just getting hits at the right time and producing runs, it would have been really easy to give up after being down 10 runs, but our guys did a good job of fighting.”

The Eagles jumped out to a 10-run lead before the Crimson recorded its ninth out. After scoring one run in the first inning and three in the second off of Harvard starter Simon Rosenblum-Larsen and junior Kevin Rex, BC appeared to break the game open in the top of the third. The Eagles branded Rex and sophomore Garrett Rupp for six runs on six hits, with a wild pitch and a throwing error sprinkled in between.

However, the Crimson answered with a crooked number of its own in the bottom of the frame. Freshman Patrick Robinson and reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week Ben Skinner both reached base to end the afternoon for BC starter Dan Metzdorf. The meat of the Harvard order had an easier time getting on base against Eagles’ freshman Sean Hughes, as the righty recorded just one out while allowing three runs. Link and freshman shortstop Edwin Owolo both doubled and combined to drive in three of the Crimson’s five runs to help cut the BC lead in half heading into the game’s second third.

“It starts with just getting a guy on,” Link said. “We got guys on base, and we drove them in. It’s just one step at a time, getting him on base, [and] moving him over. We got a couple hits together, and before you know it, it’s a couple runs.”

Harvard coach Bill Decker went with a different lineup on Tuesday following two extra inning games this past weekend. The Crimson’s usual left side of the infield—sophomore third baseman John Fallon and junior shortstop Drew Reid—was given the day off while freshman Jake Allen got the start behind the plate. The modified lineup continued the momentum from the weekend, during which Harvard scored 22 runs.

“It’s a great opportunity to get kids into the lineup who really haven’t started much,” co-captain Matt Sanders said. “I think we’ve got a couple young guys who got good experience that will be helpful down the line.”

The Eagles got one back in the fourth, as sophomore designated hitter Scott Braren singled off Rupp before scoring on a Joey Sliepka wild pitch. Harvard responded with two in the bottom half when Skinner was driven in by Mitch Klug, who proceeded to score on a Matt Rothenberg groundout.

The Crimson bullpen was lights-out for the rest of the afternoon, but the offense was unable to get the four more runs it needed to equalize. Despite the wild pitch, Sliepka finished the afternoon with three strikeouts and surrendered just two hits in three solid innings of work. Sophomore Noah Zavolas struck out two in one and a third innings while classmate Dylan Combs finished the eighth without allowing a hit.

“One thing we struggled with early in the year was tightening up our bullpen,” Sanders said. “With last weekend and today, it showed that our bullpen can really pitch well. That gives us confidence, especially with Yale coming up.”

Before the game was called to darkness after the eighth inning, Harvard picked up single runs in its halves of the seventh and eighth. The Crimson manufactured the first of the two runs on three singles, with the first by junior first baseman Matt Hink, who was playing in his second game of the season following a hand injury he suffered during the offseason. The Ballwin, Mo. native singled home Robinson an inning later for his first run batted in of the season.

“It just adds to our depth as a team,” Link said. “He’s a power threat and it’s nice to have him back. He’s going to put his best effort in, and he’s a huge offensive threat...and defensive threat.”

Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.