Baseball Falls to Huskies

A spectator at Harvard's 4-1 loss to Northeastern yesterday at Fenway Park in the first round of the Beanpot couldn't help but feel a little of the bemused wonderment that beset Kevin Coster in those first scrimmage scenes in "Field of Dreams."

First, there was a beautiful field--Fenway is a jewel of authentic authenticity (hello, Baltimore?) among major league diamonds.

Second, there was a level of play the likes of which dreams are made of--both teams played exceptional all-around ball, for the most part hitting well, fielding well and pitching well.

And third, there was hardly anyone around to see it--only approximately 125 persons (not including vendors and guards) braved the 40-degree temperature and the 3 p.m. rush-hour traffic to see the contest.

"It was a little weird out there," junior Bo Bernhard said. "Not too many people were there. It sort of seemed like we had Fenway all to ourselves."

And they made good use of it. In fact, all in all, Harvard put together a performance with which the usual Red Sox occupants could well identify: they played well enough to win, only to lose in the end off some bad breaks (somewhere, Bill Buckner is smiling).

The Crimson mounted four major offensive charges in the game--all between the fifth and eighth-innings, only to see just one--a sixth-inning rally--meet with success. The other three were stifled by, in succession, a freaky ground-out off of the glove of northeastern pitcher John Forneiro, and two close double plays.

"That game really should have been ours," senior Mike Madden said. "We outhit them (9-5) and out-pitched them. We should have won it."

While it ended up the Crimson's game to win, it started out the Wildcat's game to lose; Northeastern came into the game ranked first in New England among Division I schools with a hefty 20-7 record.

The Huskies didn't disappoint in the opening stanzas of the game, either. Paced by the solid mixed-bag pitching of Forneiro, the fourth man in the squad's rotation, Northeastern held the Crimson hitless through four innings.

"Their pitcher just pitched an awesome game," Bernhard said. "He mixed a good curve with a decent fastball and gave us fits."

"Forneiro was solid," Madden said. "He used a good fastball to get us behind in the count, and then he would come around with that curveball of his. It was pretty effective."

Meanwhile, the Huskies backed their pitcher up with a pair of runs in the first inning. Outfielder Ed Carnes, the first inning. Outfielder Ed Carnes, the team's second batter of the game, laid down a perfect bunt down the third-base line for a single, promptly stole second and then was driven in by a Derek Gauthier shot off the Green Monster in left. Gauthier, after stealing third, was then driven in on a Mike Glavine groundout, making the score 2-0.

After those runs, junior Crimson pitcher Jamie Irving settled down, and he and Forneiros engaged in a rarity in these days of epileptic run production: a veritable pitcher's dual. Neither gave up a run over the next five innings.

Despite this gridlock, the Crimson gradually picked up a feel for Forneiros'funny timing, and by the fifth inning, was more than due for a run.

That promise was fulfilled in the sixth inning, when the squad scored what would be its only run of the day. With two outs, sophomore Mark Levy distributed a single to left, only to have big junior James Crowley drive him home with a triple to right. The Crimson was only down by one, 2-1, and Forneiros was looking more and more vulnerable--a win seemed possible.

But a win was not to be. Forneiros was able to hold out--and hold out is the right word for it, as evidenced by a strange, late-inning wild-pitch seizure, and the Huskies mustered two more runs in the seventh to notch the win, 4-1.

Irving (2-4) picked up the loss for the Crimson, despite allowing only five hits and garnering five strikeouts.

"I would have to say that we are not satisfied with the game because we lost, but we are proud of our performance," said Madden, carefully articulating the general sentiments of Crimson faithful at the at the game. "We played really well--we have nothing to be ashamed of."

The Crimson will get a chance to establish at least some consistency today when it battles BC at high noon in the consolation game.

The Eagles fell to BU in an upset yesterday, 9-4 .