Hardball Hits Highs, Lows in Sunshine Trip

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for the Harvard baseball team during its spring break trip to south Florida.

Harvard (7-6) opened its season March 19 with a 9-4 win over Marist at the Homestead Challenge in Homestead, Fla. before losing a tough game to Oklahoma State in the finals of the four-team tournament.

The Crimson followed the loss to the Cowboys with a loss to a Dayton squad that managed 15 hits against the Harvard staff.

From then until a three-game pounding by Miami to close out the week, Harvard was golden. The Crimson emerged victorious in six of its next seven games, and suffered 7-5 decision at the hands of Vermont for the lone setback during the period.

But the Crimson was less than crisp defensively and failed to distinguish itself against the Hurricanes. For all the progress the team made in its wins, much remains to be done.

"The most important part of the break was coming together as a team and learning what everyone can do," said junior third baseman Peter Woodfork. "[But] we aren't where we need to be yet [on the field]."

The Batsmen Cometh

It was the age of bats, both for the Crimson and for its opponents. Until the Miami series--in which the Crimson hitters tallied just two runs in the three-game set--Harvard scored 97 runs in 10 games and never crossed the plate less than five times in any one game.

Even after going 21-for-94 (.223) against Miami, Harvard still holds a .318 team batting average.

As is often the case early in the season when managers experiment with inexperienced pitchers and hurlers wipe the winter's dust off their arms, Harvard's pitchers were no models of consistency. The Crimson takes a 5.95 ERA into its Ivy League opener Saturday at Princeton, and the staff has walked 66 batters in 112.0 innings of work.

"Our pitchers have to start locating better with the fastball and stop walking so many people," said junior hurler Andrew Duffell, who allowed an unearned run and three hits against Miami before departing with a blister on his pitching hand. "We have to get used to throwing to opponents. It all comes with time."

In the loss to Oklahoma State March 20, the Crimson bats staked out a 6-5 lead entering the ninth. But freshman John Franey gave up a two-run home run to the Cowboys' Josh Holliday with two outs in the top of the inning and the Crimson failed to score in the bottom of the frame.

"We had some freshmen coming out in their first college start, so they'll learn to build on that," Duffell said.

It was Harvard's second straight heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys handed the Crimson its first loss after two victories in the NCAA Regional Tournament last season.

Had Harvard won that game it would have been in position to earn a trip to the College World Series--the stakes were somewhat lower this time.

Baby, I'm a Star

It was the epoch of novelty, as several Harvard newcomers distinguished themselves.

Currently, the Crimson's leading hitter is rookie outfielder Scott Carmack, who can thank the broken foot of Ivy Player of the Year Brian Ralph for much of his increased playing time. Carmack hit .471 in 17 at-bats over the break.

Sophomore Jason Larocque--who went to the plate just 12 times last season--may have taken a step towards trying to fill the large shoes of Peter Albers '97 at first base. Larocque hit .348 and drove in eight runs over 11 games. The highlight for the Methuen, Mass. native was a 4-for-5 effort against Upper Iowa in which he blasted a two-run home run and drove in five of Harvard's 16 runs.

On the mound, freshman John Birtwell pitched 13.0 scoreless innings and won two games. In his lone start, against Kent State, Birtwell allowed six hits in seven innings and fanned six.

Sophomore Rich Linden-Harvard's starting quarterback in the fall--showed he could hurl gems off the gridiron as well. Linden posted a 1.93 ERA over three games, allowing three hits and two runs in six innings in his one start.

It was also the season of veterans, especially in the batters box. In the March 26 win over Oakland, Mich., senior left fielder Aaron Kessler's six hits (in six at-bats) represented the most by a Harvard player since Eddie Mays logged the same number in 1932.

Juniors Woodfork, Hal Carey and Andrew Huling all shined at the plate, and third baseman Woodfork made several spectacular plays at the hot corner.

For the most part, Harvard did what was expected. If, however, the Crimson is to one-up its history-making performance of a year ago, when the team won 34 games and knocked off two nationally-ranked opponents in Miami and UCLA, what is expected may not be good enough.

Then again, last season's team was only 5-6 after its spring break trip.

For now the Crimson can embark upon its Ivy schedule backed by the experience of 13 games, most of which were against quality opponents.

"[The Miami series] showed us how far we need to come," Woodfork said. "We need to put the ball in play more and we definitely need to play better team defense. This weekend [against Princeton and Cornell] is going to tell us a lot."

In this, its spring of hope, Harvard has everything before it. It need only take the field. OVER THE BREAK

Baseball results 3/19-3/29.

Date  Opponent  Pitcher of Record 3/19  Marist, W 9-4  Birtwell (W 1-0) 3/20  Okla. St., L 6-8  Franey (L 0-1) 3/21  Dayton, L 5-10  Lennon (L 0-1) 3/21  NY Tech., W 10-4  Wells (W 1-0) 3/22  Vermont, L 5-7  McKay (L 0-1) 3/23  N-Eastern, W 9-8  Madden (W 1-0) 3/24  Drexel, W 11-3  Vail (W 1-0) 3/25  Kent St., W 9-0  Birtwell (W 2-0) 3/26  Upper la., W 16-13  Wells (W 2-0) 3/26  Oakl. (Ml), W 17-9  Linden (W 1-0) 3/27  Miami, L 0-7  Duffell (L 0-1) 3/28  Miami, L 0-13  Kalvas (L 0-1) 3/29  Miami, L 2-9  Jamieson (L 0-1)