Baseball Tries to Extend Streak Against Elis

Riding a 10-game winning streak into Red Rolfe divisional play, the Harvard baseball team hopes to improve on both its aggressive play and its three-game division lead in a four-game series this weekend at Yale.

"If we do well this weekend, we can ensure ourselves a pretty good shot at winning the division," junior pitcher Garett Vail said. "It really comes down to the next two weekends. Yale and Brown are our biggest worries right now."

The Elis (12-15, 4-4 Ivy) are tied with the Bears (8-24, 4-4) for second place in the Rolfe Division, and Dartmouth (15-9, 2-6) is trailing the pack. Yale would have to take all four games from the Crimson to reach first place this weekend.

The Bulldogs are led by senior pitcher Eric Gutshall (3-4, 2.64 ERA), a 1997 All-Ivy League selection who is leading the Ancient Eight this year with 55 strikeouts. Yale sophomores Sudha Reddy (3-3, 4.86) and Jon Levy (2-3, 5.23) are also among the league's pitching leaders.

"Eric Gutshall is exceptional," Harvard Coach Joe Walsh said. "He is the best pitcher in the league. We will need to execute the little things against him: get the ball in play, go the other way and bunt well. But we are very capable of doing that, and right now we are playing with confidence."

Gutshall's pitching was not enough to overcome Lou Gehrig division leader Princeton (13-7, 6-2) last weekend. The Eli offense sputtered in Gutshall's game, losing 5-3 before the Tigers ran over the Bulldogs in the second game, 19-0. Yale split a doubleheader against Cornell.

Meanwhile, Harvard (18-7, 7-1) has been playing its best baseball of the season. The Crimson is leading the Ancient Eight in team batting average thanks to seniors David Forst (.393) and Aaron Kessler (.345) and juniors Hal Carey (.370) and Jason Keck (.367). Forst, Harvard's captain, has been fundamentally sound in the batter's box and at short-stop.

"Dave Forst is having a huge season offensively," Walsh said. "He is the guy that has started the two-out rally, kept the inning going, come up with the big hit. While fans might like to see the ball leave the yard, those are the little things we have to do to win ballgames."

But it was not a little thing when senior Brian Ralph came off the disabled list. The 1997 Ivy Player of the Year has resumed his defensive prowess in center-field as well as hit .435 in seven games. He is already leading the Crimson with three home runs.

"We are a much better team with Brian Ralph back," Walsh said. "For one thing, he gives us more balance in the lineup. With an extra lefthander against tough righthanded pitchers, we are going to be a tough team to pitch to. The other thing with Ralph is that our outfield has played really well since he came back. I feel really good about our defense."

That defense, which is first in the league in team fielding percentage at .955, has benefited the pitching staff. The pitching has been solid during the winning streak despite the illness that has sidelined freshman John Birtwell (3-0, 0.00), who has not allowed a run in 18.2 innings pitched.

Sophomore Derek Lennon (1-1, 3.00) has filled in admirably in Birtwell's absence, winning last week's Ivy Rookie of the Week award for limiting Columbia to no runs and four hits over five and two-thirds innings on Saturday. Lennon threw six strikeouts and no walks, and showed how deep Harvard's bullpen is.

"Derek Lennon was one of our go-to guys last weekend," Walsh said. "We are getting good pitching and it is coming from a lot of different people. We have confidence in everybody on our staff and that is something that I don't know a lot of ballclubs have."

A trio of junior starters have eaten up the bulk of the Crimson's innings and contributed to the staff's 4.98 ERA, second in the league. Vail (2-1, 3.20) is second to Gutshall in ERA, and Andrew Duffell (2-1, 2.45) and Donny Jamieson (1-1, 4.70) have also been pitching well.

"In the last two games I have been relaxed, throwing strikes and letting our defense make plays," said Jamieson, who is sixth in the league in ERA.

"We have plenty of pitching," Vail said. "Depth is the key this year. Everyone can come in and do a good job, so it really does not matter who is out on the hill."

The strong pitching, hitting and defense have enabled the Crimson to build a three-game lead and win 10 in a row. Harvard hopes it can continue playing good fundamental baseball and build an insurmountable lead as it begins Red Rolfe division play in New Haven.

"We have been playing really well," Jamieson said. "It was a big lift having Ralph back, and all our pitchers have been throwing strikes. Everything is really starting to come together."

"We are starting to put it together offensively," Walsh said. "We are playing a little bit better defensively, and our pitching has been the key. Those are the three things in baseball and a lot of times a team has one going, one halfway there, and one not clicking. If we can get all three going, we are going to be tough."