Baseball Takes Three of Four Against Yale

Behind a slew of strong starts, the Harvard men’s baseball team (12-19, 5-7 Ivy) began intra-divisional play with three wins out of four against rival Yale in New Haven, Conn.

The Crimson allowed just nine runs over the four games against their Red Rolfe Division rivals, pulling within two games of the Bulldogs (12-22-1, 7-5 Ivy) at the top of the divisional summit.

“To travel to Yale and feel like we played up to our potential and get three out of four wins was huge for us,” captain Matt Sanders said. “They are must-win games, and the hitters came out and swung the bats well, and in certain situations the guys came out and pitched incredibly well.”

Harvard made a few lineup changes against their archrivals, with freshman center fielder Ben Skinner’s move to the leadoff position chief among them. Skinner, second on the team with five stolen bases, went 4-for-13 with three runs scored and an RBI over the weekend.

“A lot of [the change] had to do with Ben Skinner’s hot bat,” senior second baseman Mitch Klug said. “He’s definitely one of the fastest guys in the lineup, so any time you can get speed at the top of the lineup it’s a bonus.”

Klug, sophomore third baseman John Fallon, and sophomore infielder Matt Rothenberg had five hits apiece to lead the team.

HARVARD 5, YALE 2

The Crimson’s bats combined for a season-high 15 hits to close out the weekend, with Klug and Rothenberg each picking up three. Freshman righty Kevin Stone allowed just two runs over four innings while senior southpaw Shaun Rubin threw three and one-third scoreless innings to earn the victory.

“Everyone coming out of the bullpen felt like they could get the job done,” Sanders said, “but for whatever reason had struggled a little bit earlier in the season. But now we have guys… who are coming out of the pen and shutting the door.”

Harvard jumped on Bulldogs starter Chris Lanham in the top of the first, riding three singles and a double to three early runs. The Crimson wouldn’t look back from there, scoring a run in the second and the fourth to take a commanding lead.

HARVARD 9, YALE 1

The Crimson offense put in a productive performance Sunday morning to back impressive junior right-hander Ian Miller, who held the Bulldogs to just one run over seven innings to earn his first victory of the season.

Harvard had as many runs as hits in the game, with Fallon and juniors Drew Reid and Josh Ellis, hitting 8th and 9th respectively, all driving in a pair of runs.

“Any time you get hits from the bottom of the lineup you’re going to put some runs on the board and really turn things around,” Klug said. “This weekend, specifically, the guys who kind of had to be at the bottom of the lineup stepped up and did a really good job stepping up and getting big hits when we needed it.”

The Crimson scored two in the first and four in the fourth to take control of proceedings, with Yale’s only run coming in the bottom of the seventh as a late consolation.

HARVARD 6, YALE 3

The Crimson rode the reliable right arm of senior starter Sean Poppen to a rebound victory on Saturday night, benefitting from pass balls on successive at-bats during its decisive four-run eighth inning.

Poppen allowed three runs, two earned, over seven innings while striking out seven.

“From a defensive standpoint, it’s always great to play behind guys who are filling it up, throwing great, and have a lot of confidence on the mound,” Klug said. “We played some good defense behind them, and we gave them some support, and that’s the most important thing.”

Harvard trailed, 3-2, heading into the eighth but passed balls and RBIs from freshman first baseman Pat McColl and Rothenberg tipped the scales back in the visitor’s balance.

YALE 3, HARVARD 2

Shaky defense and cold bats doomed the Crimson to a weekend-opening loss on Saturday afternoon, 3-2, against the Bulldogs. Junior right-hander Nick Gruener hurled his fifth consecutive complete game, striking out five in six innings of three-run ball. None of the runs were earned.

“I think any time Nick’s out on the mound, we’re definitely putting ourselves in a position to win,” Klug said. “The defense loves to play behind him, he always pitches well.”

That defense, however, committed three errors, with the errors leading to all three runs. Reid and freshman left fielder Trent Bryan drove in Harvard’s runs, but a throwing error in the fifth inning by Fallon ended up being the difference between the sides.

—Staff writer Manav Khandelwal can be reached at manavkhandelwal@college.harvard.edu.