Baseball Heats Up Offensively, Defeats Bucknell and Massachusetts

Harvard baseball is already making improvements where it needs to.

After lackluster offensive showings over the weekend against Jacksonville, the Crimson turned it around on Tuesday and Wednesday in Port Charlotte, Fl. The team hit balls hard, found gaps, and ultimately produced a season-high 15 hits against Bucknell and 11 more knocks against Massachusetts.

Combined with continued rock-solid starting pitching, the improved results at the plate translated to 9-8 and 8-2 Harvard wins, respectively, over the New Jersey-based Bison (6-6) and in-state rival Minutemen (3-5). The Crimson’s Tuesday victory over Bucknell also snapped the Bison’s three-game winning streak.

“It was exactly what we needed,” said senior catcher and captain Josh Ellis. “We got silenced against Jacksonville, so it was nice to decompress, have that team practice day, and next you thing you know, to come out charging… [and have] an offensive outburst.”

Harvard (7-3) now gets another rest day before taking on RPI 35th-ranked South Florida in Tampa, Fl. in a four-game series.

HARVARD 8, MASSACHUSETTS 2

Sophomore catcher Jake Allen’s big day at the plate set the stage for eight unanswered runs for the Crimson and an 8-2 win over Massachusetts.

Allen went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs on a tie-breaking two-RBI double in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth. The Charlottesville, VA. native also scored twice. All three stat lines—hits, RBI’s, and runs scored—were career highs for the sophomore.

“To start the season off, I felt like I was seeing the ball well, my timing was good, everything was there—it just wasn’t clicking for me yet,” Allen said. “Today was the day where I think it started to come together for me.”

Sophomore Trent Bryan tied the game at two apiece in the third with a double that brought home freshman Quinn Hoffman and Allen. Bryan is now batting .400 on the season and has a .760 slugging percentage, helped by a team-high two triples.

On the mound, freshman righty Hunter Bigge made his first start and posted his first W, striking out three and giving up two earned runs over six innings of work. The freshman’s solid outing continues a trend of quality starts by Harvard starting pitching.

Bigge, did, however, have to deal with a two-run first inning in which Massachusetts sent nine men to the plate. The Crimson’s early 2-0 deficit, however, did nothing to shake the team’s confidence.

“The first inning was a little shaky, but after he got past that, he came in and threw a lot of strikes,” said Allen, who got the start behind the plate. “Overall, he did great. He put together a pretty good performance for his first start.”

Sophomore Kevin Stone and junior Ian Miller, who have both made starts this season, made appearances out of the bullpen, shutting down the Minutemen in the seventh and eighth after Bigge’s exit.

HARVARD 9, BUCKNELL 8

Harvard once again faced an early deficit in Tuesday’s day game against Bucknell, but the ensuing offensive shootout turned out in the Crimson’s favor in a 9-8 win over the Bison.

The catcher position once again played a pivotal role for the offense, as Ellis’s bat came alive to a resounding effect. The team captain went 3-for-4 with two RBI’s and a run scored. Ellis also punched in an RBI single in the top of the ninth that drove in two important insurance runs.

“It’s always frustrating when you can’t really contribute to the offense,” Ellis said, speaking on the start to his season. “It was good seeing the ball, swing felt good, putting two and two together, and find some gaps.”

Ellis’s RBIs would become important in a wild ninth inning, as Harvard scored thrice in the top half to extend its lead to 9-4, but Bucknell made a bid for a comeback with four runs in the bottom half.

After junior Garrett Rupp left after 2.2 innings of relief work, freshman Kieran Shaw put an end to things by getting the last two outs of the game. However, it wasn’t the cleanest, as the Bison got four singles, two walks, and two wild pitches in the final frame, accounting for their four runs. Only a two-out flyout ended the game.

Freshman righty Grant Stone was the beneficiary of the Crimson’s 15-hit outburst, as he pitched 5.2 innings of four-run ball, with one run being unearned. Though Stone has made appearances out of the bullpen this season, Wednesday marked his first start and first win.

Harvard got contributions across the lineup, as freshman Chad Minato and Bryan, in addition to Ellis, picked up three hits apiece. Senior Drew Reid, after a similarly trying start to the season, drove in a game-high three runs, and sophomore first baseman Patrick McColl drove in two more.

The Bison’s early 1-0 and 3-2 leads did little to throw the Crimson off.

“Our innings have been tricky; we’ll hit the ball hard, but it’ll go right at someone,” Ellis explained. “On paper, that’s an out, but our hitters are still seeing the ball well, and it’s just a matter of finding those holes—which, if you’re hitting the ball, is going to happen. For us, it’s just focusing on playing our game, competing, and trusting in what we’ve done. It’s relaxing and playing our game.”

Sophomore Patrick Robinson, Bryan, and Minato jumpstarted Harvard’s four-run sixth that took the lead for good by getting on base, and Reid did most of the damage with a bases-clearing double through the left side.

—Staff writer Bryan Hu can be reached at bryan.hu@thecrimson.com.