Baseball Opens Season with Pair of Doubleheader Splits

For a pitcher's club, the Harvard baseball team sure found a weird way to split a pair of doubleheaders.

The Crimson (2-2) dropped 1-0 and 4-2 pitchers' duels to Charleston Southern before bouncing back to win the nightcaps 13-5 and 7-4 last weekend in Charleston, S.C.

Harvard got solid plate performances from senior second baseman Peter Woodfork, who went 5-for-14 with five RBI and two stolen bases, and senior centerfielder Andrew Huling, who finished 5-for-12 with five RBI, four runs scored and three stolen bases.

On the hill, senior Andrew Duffell switched to the bullpen and picked up his first win of 1999, while classmate Garett Vail threw a complete-game gem, but lost a 1-0 heartbreaker.

But at times it seemed like Harvard's main opponent wasn't the Bucaneers (10-13)--it was the weather.

In a travel routine that looked like a comedy of errors, the Crimson spent Thursday night snowed in at Washington, D.C., getting only four hours of sleep before Friday's twin bill.

But the fun wasn't over yet. The Crimson couldn't fly out of Charleston Sunday afternoon and spent 12 hours in airports before arriving in Cambridge in the wee hours yesterday morning.

"I don't want to talk about it," Woodfork said. "It was just ridiculous. It was a torturous road trip."

CSU 1, Harvard 0

Harvard arrived at Buccaneer Field approximately two hours before game time in a fleet of cabs direct from the Charleston Airport, dressed in the dugout and got jumped by CSU, losing 1-0 to starter Ryan Smith (2-0).

"He was just a two-pitch pitcher," Woodfork said. "You know, fastball-curveball, and if we faced him 20 times over the season we'd be fine. He just pitched a smart game, didn't make any mistakes and we weren't aggressive."

Smith tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out nine while walking just two.

Vail, a Second-Team All-Ivy selection last season, took the hard-luck loss, fashioning a complete game of his own while striking out six and allowing four hits.

CSU scored the game's only run in the bottom of the fifth when second baseman John Rocco tripled with one out. He scored two batters later on shortstop Jay Corrigale's RBI single.

"We were out of rhythm from the plane trip," Duffell said. "We're not a team that gets shut out."

Harvard 13, CSU 5

The Crimson bats woke from a seven-inning slumber in Friday's nightcap, getting six runs in the top of the fourth inning to stake a 9-4 lead.

Harvard never looked back, cruising behind junior Derek Lennon and senior Donny Jamieson's long relief efforts to a 13-5 win.

Freshman Ben Crockett, who figures to be the No. 2 starter in the Harvard rotation, got his first collegiate start and struggled, giving up four earned runs on six hits in three innings.

But Lennon and Jamieson combined to toss four shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three.

Huling provided the bulk of the batting punch, going 2-for-2 with three runs scored and four RBI. Huling laced a two-run single during Harvard's six-run spurt in the fourth and added sacrifice flies in the second and the seventh.

CSU's Jeremy Jimenez was stuck with the loss after allowing six runs, only two of which were earned, in 2.2 innings.

CSU 4, Harvard 2

In a scenario that mirrored Friday's opener, the Crimson threw an ace on Saturday but still got trumped.

Sophomore John Birtwell, last season's resident rookie sensation with a 4-0 record and a 2.29 ERA, spun three-hit ball for six innings, striking out five and allowing just one earned run.

But the Buccaneers stung Birtwell for a three-spot in the fifth, thanks to sophomore leftfielder John Portman's two-run error.

Birtwell created the beginnings of his own mess by walking two batters, then uncorking a wild pitch to move the runners up to second and third. Corrigale drove in the game's first run with an RBI single that scored third baseman Darryl Clark. He then scored, along with leftfielder Patrick Siemers, when Portman muffed a fly ball.

That gave CSU a 3-0 lead and would ultimately saddle Birtwell (0-1) with the first loss of his Harvard career.

The Crimson rallied for a pair off Buccaneer closer Chad Humbert in the seventh, getting RBI groundouts from sophomore first baseman Graham McKay and junior Jason Larocque.

CSU's Mike Buczek (1-0) worked five shutout innings, striking out four and walking none while allowing just one hit.

Harvard 7, CSU 4

Despite three errors from a typically sure-handed infield, the Crimson made an early 5-2 lead stand up behind a solid relief outing from Duffell, a senior righthander who pitched four no-hit innings to secure the win.

"It's a deep staff and we're all fighting for innings," Duffell said. "I mean, Donny Jamieson and I, who started last year, are coming out of the pen. It's tough for anyone to get innings and coming on in relief is fine with me."

Duffell relieved junior Mike Madden, who was the Crimson's closer last season but did make the occasional start, including the fourth game of the NCAA Regional against Cal State-Fullerton in Baton Rouge, La.

"Madden has shown signs of being able to handle more innings," Harvard Coach Joe Walsh said last week. "I think you'll see him making a lot more starts this year."

Madden battled, allowing seven hits but only two earned runs over three innings before giving way to Duffell.

But Duffell displayed the form that has made him a consistent threat throughout his career and showed none of the ill effects of surgery that limited his strength at times last season.

"I just treated it like another start," Duffell said. "I threw well and had some great defense played behind me and my arm felt 100 percent."

Harvard tagged Clark (0-1) for five runs in the first three innings, with Woodfork providing the big blow on a two-run double in the second. Sophomore rightfielder Scott Carmack, whom Walsh said made excellent off-season progress, went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in the romp, while sophomore leftfielder Joe Llanes, who made the jump from the JV program, was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Walsh also switched captain Hal Carey from third base to shortstop in the fourth game. Carey spent about half of last season at second base before swapping with Woodfork.