Baseball Scores Many, Pounds B.C.

The Harvard baseball team scored six times in the ninth inning and pounded out 14 hits yesterday to defeat Boston College B.C.), 14-7, at Chestnut Hill.

With the win, Harvard (13-9) took the first step towards erasing the memory of Sunday's painful doubleheader loss to Princeton, in which the team blew a six-run lead in the last inning of the first game.

"I'm really excited to see us bounce back like this," captain Peter Albers said. "It's pretty encouraging to see us come back and be aggressive and swing the sticks well."

The final score is a poor indicator of how close a game it was. Harvard entered the ninth inning with a narrow 8-7 lead. The teams had traded big innings all day, with B.C. (12-14) storming back from an 8-3 deficit over the previous two frames.

Determined not to let another big lead slip away, Harvard's bats came alive in the ninth. Senior Mike Hochanadel led off the inning with a homer over the left-field wall, which turned out to be all the insurance the Crimson needed.

But the offensive firepower continued. With juniors Aaron Kessler and David Forst hugging first and second respectively, sophomore Andrew Huling sent a pitch from B.C.'s David Conley over the fence in right-center to all but seal the win for Harvard and starter Andrew Duffell.

The Crimson bats were alive all game. Harvard jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning off B.C. starter Craig Katz.

With two outs and runners on second and third, Kessler lashed a single into center, scoring two and ending a string of 14.1 scoreless innings for the Crimson.

"We've been in a bit of a slump offensively, but we really kind of busted out and were aggressive at the plate," Albers said.

After Harvard tacked on two more in the third to bring its lead to four, B.C. stormed back in the fifth. With runners on first and second and two down, Duffell let one get away from him, as first baseman Sean McGowan hit his eighth homer of the season to bring the Eagles within one.

But Harvard's sticks did not let up. In the top of the sixth, the Crimson used a bases-loaded single by sophomore Todd Harris, a sacrifice fly by Huling and a two-run double by Albers to add four more runs to its tally.

The Eagles once again responded with the long ball, as Duffell left a 3-1 pitch over the middle of the plate that was promptly crushed by second baseman Greg Fulginite for a two-run bomb. The two homers accounted for all five runs allowed by Duffell, who weathered the storm of a potent B.C. offense for the victory.

"I thought I pitched okay," Duffel said. "I gave up two home runs, but they hit good pitches. What are you going to do?"

B.C. added two more runs in the eighth, including a solo home run by left fielder Chang Choe off sophomore Garrett Vail, who relieved Duffell in the seventh.

"They were really swinging the sticks well," Albers said. "Luckily we were doing the same. We just had a little bit more success doing it."

Harvard takes the field again tomorrow against New Hampshire, making up an earlier cancellation. The team resumes its Ivy League schedule Saturday when it plays the first of two crucial weekend doubleheaders against Red Rolfe division-leading Yale.

"[Yesterday] was a real big win for us coming off the two tough losses to Princeton," Duffell said. "Putting 14 runs up on a good team like B.C. bodes well for us with Yale coming up."