Baseball Home Win Streak Ends

This was, to put it lightly, less than an ideal home opener.

Rhode Island (9 -15, 0-3 Atlantic 10) useda four-run fifth inning-keyed by first baseman Jason Chamsarian's tworun home run off freshman starter Justin Nyweide--to break open a 2-2 tie, then fought off a late Harvard rush to win 6-5 yesterday at O'Donnell Field.

Rams left fielder Ryan Cooney laced an RBI double to score Scullin with the go- ahead run, then Chamsarian followed by pasting Nyweide's offering into a gusty right-field wind and over the 370' sign for his fifth of the season .

Three batters later, designated hitter Steve Lemiux drove a two-out RBI single up the middle off reliever Mike Giampaolo for a 6-2 URI lead.

The loss marked the first for the Crimson (9-9, 3-1 Ivy) at home since the 1997 playoff, a streak of 16 consecutive wins. In a highly unusal fashion , the Crimson got 14 hits but squandered severl late-inning coring chances, stranding 12 runners and left the base loaded in the eigth.

"Five runs on 14 hits, that's not a Harvard line score," said senior centor fielder Andrew Huling, who finished 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored.

"We're used getting, say, eight runs on eight hit, but we've been having some trouble getting the big hit lately."

Harvard challenged in the sixth, seventh and eigth innings, but managed only three runs while leaving five men aboard in those frames.

:Situational hitting is something we work on at every practice," Walsh said. "But we're just not putting pressure on teams, we're not doing the things we talk about doing in certain situations."

Trailing 6-5 in the eighth, the Crimson had its best chance to move ahead when cosecutive singles by captain HalCarey and freshman third baseman Mark Mager, plus a four-pitch walk to Huling , left the bases loaded with two outs for senior catcher Jason Keck.

Keck was 2-for-4 with a run scored at that point in the game, but URI reliver Rudy Bulgar got him to ground out to third baseman Lee McCarthy, squashing the rally.

Buglar pitched a perfectninth for his first save of the season, finishing with four hits and one unearned run in 3.2 innings.

Harvard had scored a pair in the sixth close to 6-4, getting an RBI single from sophomore left fielder John Portman and a run-scoring fielder's choice from Mager.

But with men on first and third and two out for Huling in the cleanup slot, Bulgar picked Mager off first base on his second straight throw over. URI starter Lenny Whitten had also picked off Carey in the first.

Whitten(1-2) earned the win despite a gory line, giving up four earned runs and 10 hits in 5.1 innings.

Harvard managed just one unarned run from a bard-luck seventh inning, which started with back-to-back singles by Huling and Keck.

Walsh sent junior catcher Jeff Bridich to pinch-hit for designated hitter Jason Larocque with men on first and second and no out, and Bridch nearly pulled the wool over the Ram's eyes by pushing a bunt up the first -base line.

But Clarke was quick from behind the plate, and he nabbed Huling, the lead runner, at third.

After a sacrifice fly by sophomore right fielder Scott Carmack moved Keck over to third, Bulgarthrew n the dirt on a pickoff to first.

This allowed Keck to trot home as the ball skipped away into rightfield . Nyweide (0-1) was effective untill tha rally and had seven strikeouts, but ended the day charged with five earned runs on eight hits across 4.1 innings.

Nyweide had two pitches working and he had a nice game going," Walsh said. "Then Chamsarian comes up, who I thought was the only guy withib 10 miles of the ballpark who could take it out, and we give up the home run with first base open."

Nyeide had given up his first home run of the afternoon in the fourth, a solo shot to URI catcher Matt Clarke that tied the score at 2-2.

Harvard scratched a run in the fourth when Huling led off with a walk, stole second and moved to third on Keck's groundout to second.

Sophomore right fielder Scott Carmack then plated him with a tw0-out single to right.

Huling put the Crimson on the board in the second with a soo home run off Whitten, his team -best third of the season. Huling is also first on the team in RBI with 21 and second in batting average .403.

"I guess I'm seeing the ball well and getting some good pitches to hit," Huling said ."On this team, it's a different guy every day."

Carey began to break out of a recent slump , going 3-for-4 with a walk in five at-bats.

Notes

Three of the Crimson's regular weekend arms got some exrcise, and all were predictably sharp. Senior Garett Vail threw 1.1 hitless innings and sophomore John Bitwell faced and retired six batters, striking out two.

Junior reliver Derek Lennon had to battle in the ninth after he surrendered a one-out priple to Rhode Island shortstop Mike LaBarbera, but he coaxed Conney into a groundout and got Chamsarian swinging to strand the runner and keep the Crimson close.

Birtwell, who dazzled at Penn last Friday with a 12-strikout, completegame shutout, was named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week.

Freshman Ben Crockett, who tossed a complete game of his own at Columbia last Saturday, earned Rookie of the honours.

Crockett faced just three batters over the minimum in beating Columbia 9-1.

The loss was the first home regular-season defeat for Harvard since O'Donnell Field rededicated in 1997.

The Crimson's 22-3 record also includexs losses to princeton in the 1997 Ivy League Championship Series and to Army in the NCAA play - in game. RHODE ISLAND, 6-5 at O'Donnell Field   R  H  E URI  001  140  000  -  6  111 Harvard  010  102  100  -  5  14   1 Rhodeisland  AB  R   BI  BB  SO Scullin cf  3  1  1  1  1  1  1 LaBarbera ss  5  0  3  0  0  0 Cooney lf  5  1  1  1  0  1 Chamsarian 1b  5  1  1  2  0  3 Gaccione rf  3  0  0  0  1  0 Clarke c  4  2  2  1  0  1 Lemieux dh  4  1  3  1  0  0 McCarthy3b  3  0  0  0  0  2 Koppelman 2b  4  0  0  0  0  2 TOTALS  36  6  11  6  2  10 HARVARD  AB  R  B I  BB  SO Careys ss  4  0  3  0  1  0 Mager 3b/2b  5  0  1  1  0  1 Woodfork 2b  2  0  0  0  0  0 Carter 2b  1  1  0  0  0  1 McKay ph  1  0  0  0  0  0 Shakir 2b  0  0  0  0  0  0 San Salvador ph/3b  1  0  0  0  0  0 Huling cf  3  2  3  1  2  0 Keck c  5  1  2  0  0  0 Larocque dh  3  0  0  0  0  0 Bridich dh  2  0  0  0  0  0 Carmack rf  5  1  2  1  0  0 Binkowski 1b  4  1  2  0  1  1 Portman lf  2  0  1  1  1  0 TOTALS  38  5  14  4  5  3 E:Bulgar,Keck(2).LOB:URi 7,Harvard 12.2B:Conney (5),Clarke(7).3B:LaBarbera.HR:Chamsa rian (5), Clarke(3), Huling(3).SB:Sullin (10),Huling 2(7).CS:GAccione(4). CORNELL  IP  H  E R  BB  SO Whitten, W(1-2)  5.1  10  4  4  4  2 BUlgar, S(1)  3.2  4  1  0  1  1 HARVARD  IP  H  E R  BB  SO Nyweide,L(0-1)  4.1  8  5  4  17 Giampaolo  0.1  2  1  1  1  0 Vail  1.1  0  0  0  0  0 Birtwell  2.0  0  0   0  0  2 Lennon  1.0  1  0  0  0  1

"Five runs on 14 hits, that's not a Harvard line score," said senior centor fielder Andrew Huling, who finished 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored.

"We're used getting, say, eight runs on eight hit, but we've been having some trouble getting the big hit lately."

Harvard challenged in the sixth, seventh and eigth innings, but managed only three runs while leaving five men aboard in those frames.

:Situational hitting is something we work on at every practice," Walsh said. "But we're just not putting pressure on teams, we're not doing the things we talk about doing in certain situations."

Trailing 6-5 in the eighth, the Crimson had its best chance to move ahead when cosecutive singles by captain HalCarey and freshman third baseman Mark Mager, plus a four-pitch walk to Huling , left the bases loaded with two outs for senior catcher Jason Keck.

Keck was 2-for-4 with a run scored at that point in the game, but URI reliver Rudy Bulgar got him to ground out to third baseman Lee McCarthy, squashing the rally.

Buglar pitched a perfectninth for his first save of the season, finishing with four hits and one unearned run in 3.2 innings.

Harvard had scored a pair in the sixth close to 6-4, getting an RBI single from sophomore left fielder John Portman and a run-scoring fielder's choice from Mager.

But with men on first and third and two out for Huling in the cleanup slot, Bulgar picked Mager off first base on his second straight throw over. URI starter Lenny Whitten had also picked off Carey in the first.

Whitten(1-2) earned the win despite a gory line, giving up four earned runs and 10 hits in 5.1 innings.

Harvard managed just one unarned run from a bard-luck seventh inning, which started with back-to-back singles by Huling and Keck.

Walsh sent junior catcher Jeff Bridich to pinch-hit for designated hitter Jason Larocque with men on first and second and no out, and Bridch nearly pulled the wool over the Ram's eyes by pushing a bunt up the first -base line.

But Clarke was quick from behind the plate, and he nabbed Huling, the lead runner, at third.

After a sacrifice fly by sophomore right fielder Scott Carmack moved Keck over to third, Bulgarthrew n the dirt on a pickoff to first.

This allowed Keck to trot home as the ball skipped away into rightfield . Nyweide (0-1) was effective untill tha rally and had seven strikeouts, but ended the day charged with five earned runs on eight hits across 4.1 innings.

Nyweide had two pitches working and he had a nice game going," Walsh said. "Then Chamsarian comes up, who I thought was the only guy withib 10 miles of the ballpark who could take it out, and we give up the home run with first base open."

Nyeide had given up his first home run of the afternoon in the fourth, a solo shot to URI catcher Matt Clarke that tied the score at 2-2.

Harvard scratched a run in the fourth when Huling led off with a walk, stole second and moved to third on Keck's groundout to second.

Sophomore right fielder Scott Carmack then plated him with a tw0-out single to right.

Huling put the Crimson on the board in the second with a soo home run off Whitten, his team -best third of the season. Huling is also first on the team in RBI with 21 and second in batting average .403.

"I guess I'm seeing the ball well and getting some good pitches to hit," Huling said ."On this team, it's a different guy every day."

Carey began to break out of a recent slump , going 3-for-4 with a walk in five at-bats.

Notes

Three of the Crimson's regular weekend arms got some exrcise, and all were predictably sharp. Senior Garett Vail threw 1.1 hitless innings and sophomore John Bitwell faced and retired six batters, striking out two.

Junior reliver Derek Lennon had to battle in the ninth after he surrendered a one-out priple to Rhode Island shortstop Mike LaBarbera, but he coaxed Conney into a groundout and got Chamsarian swinging to strand the runner and keep the Crimson close.

Birtwell, who dazzled at Penn last Friday with a 12-strikout, completegame shutout, was named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week.

Freshman Ben Crockett, who tossed a complete game of his own at Columbia last Saturday, earned Rookie of the honours.

Crockett faced just three batters over the minimum in beating Columbia 9-1.

The loss was the first home regular-season defeat for Harvard since O'Donnell Field rededicated in 1997.

The Crimson's 22-3 record also includexs losses to princeton in the 1997 Ivy League Championship Series and to Army in the NCAA play - in game. RHODE ISLAND, 6-5 at O'Donnell Field   R  H  E URI  001  140  000  -  6  111 Harvard  010  102  100  -  5  14   1 Rhodeisland  AB  R   BI  BB  SO Scullin cf  3  1  1  1  1  1  1 LaBarbera ss  5  0  3  0  0  0 Cooney lf  5  1  1  1  0  1 Chamsarian 1b  5  1  1  2  0  3 Gaccione rf  3  0  0  0  1  0 Clarke c  4  2  2  1  0  1 Lemieux dh  4  1  3  1  0  0 McCarthy3b  3  0  0  0  0  2 Koppelman 2b  4  0  0  0  0  2 TOTALS  36  6  11  6  2  10 HARVARD  AB  R  B I  BB  SO Careys ss  4  0  3  0  1  0 Mager 3b/2b  5  0  1  1  0  1 Woodfork 2b  2  0  0  0  0  0 Carter 2b  1  1  0  0  0  1 McKay ph  1  0  0  0  0  0 Shakir 2b  0  0  0  0  0  0 San Salvador ph/3b  1  0  0  0  0  0 Huling cf  3  2  3  1  2  0 Keck c  5  1  2  0  0  0 Larocque dh  3  0  0  0  0  0 Bridich dh  2  0  0  0  0  0 Carmack rf  5  1  2  1  0  0 Binkowski 1b  4  1  2  0  1  1 Portman lf  2  0  1  1  1  0 TOTALS  38  5  14  4  5  3 E:Bulgar,Keck(2).LOB:URi 7,Harvard 12.2B:Conney (5),Clarke(7).3B:LaBarbera.HR:Chamsa rian (5), Clarke(3), Huling(3).SB:Sullin (10),Huling 2(7).CS:GAccione(4). CORNELL  IP  H  E R  BB  SO Whitten, W(1-2)  5.1  10  4  4  4  2 BUlgar, S(1)  3.2  4  1  0  1  1 HARVARD  IP  H  E R  BB  SO Nyweide,L(0-1)  4.1  8  5  4  17 Giampaolo  0.1  2  1  1  1  0 Vail  1.1  0  0  0  0  0 Birtwell  2.0  0  0   0  0  2 Lennon  1.0  1  0  0  0  1

Nyweide had two pitches working and he had a nice game going," Walsh said. "Then Chamsarian comes up, who I thought was the only guy withib 10 miles of the ballpark who could take it out, and we give up the home run with first base open."

Nyeide had given up his first home run of the afternoon in the fourth, a solo shot to URI catcher Matt Clarke that tied the score at 2-2.

Harvard scratched a run in the fourth when Huling led off with a walk, stole second and moved to third on Keck's groundout to second.

Sophomore right fielder Scott Carmack then plated him with a tw0-out single to right.

Huling put the Crimson on the board in the second with a soo home run off Whitten, his team -best third of the season. Huling is also first on the team in RBI with 21 and second in batting average .403.

"I guess I'm seeing the ball well and getting some good pitches to hit," Huling said ."On this team, it's a different guy every day."

Carey began to break out of a recent slump , going 3-for-4 with a walk in five at-bats.

Notes

Three of the Crimson's regular weekend arms got some exrcise, and all were predictably sharp. Senior Garett Vail threw 1.1 hitless innings and sophomore John Bitwell faced and retired six batters, striking out two.

Junior reliver Derek Lennon had to battle in the ninth after he surrendered a one-out priple to Rhode Island shortstop Mike LaBarbera, but he coaxed Conney into a groundout and got Chamsarian swinging to strand the runner and keep the Crimson close.

Birtwell, who dazzled at Penn last Friday with a 12-strikout, completegame shutout, was named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week.

Freshman Ben Crockett, who tossed a complete game of his own at Columbia last Saturday, earned Rookie of the honours.

Crockett faced just three batters over the minimum in beating Columbia 9-1.

The loss was the first home regular-season defeat for Harvard since O'Donnell Field rededicated in 1997.

The Crimson's 22-3 record also includexs losses to princeton in the 1997 Ivy League Championship Series and to Army in the NCAA play - in game. RHODE ISLAND, 6-5 at O'Donnell Field   R  H  E URI  001  140  000  -  6  111 Harvard  010  102  100  -  5  14   1 Rhodeisland  AB  R   BI  BB  SO Scullin cf  3  1  1  1  1  1  1 LaBarbera ss  5  0  3  0  0  0 Cooney lf  5  1  1  1  0  1 Chamsarian 1b  5  1  1  2  0  3 Gaccione rf  3  0  0  0  1  0 Clarke c  4  2  2  1  0  1 Lemieux dh  4  1  3  1  0  0 McCarthy3b  3  0  0  0  0  2 Koppelman 2b  4  0  0  0  0  2 TOTALS  36  6  11  6  2  10 HARVARD  AB  R  B I  BB  SO Careys ss  4  0  3  0  1  0 Mager 3b/2b  5  0  1  1  0  1 Woodfork 2b  2  0  0  0  0  0 Carter 2b  1  1  0  0  0  1 McKay ph  1  0  0  0  0  0 Shakir 2b  0  0  0  0  0  0 San Salvador ph/3b  1  0  0  0  0  0 Huling cf  3  2  3  1  2  0 Keck c  5  1  2  0  0  0 Larocque dh  3  0  0  0  0  0 Bridich dh  2  0  0  0  0  0 Carmack rf  5  1  2  1  0  0 Binkowski 1b  4  1  2  0  1  1 Portman lf  2  0  1  1  1  0 TOTALS  38  5  14  4  5  3 E:Bulgar,Keck(2).LOB:URi 7,Harvard 12.2B:Conney (5),Clarke(7).3B:LaBarbera.HR:Chamsa rian (5), Clarke(3), Huling(3).SB:Sullin (10),Huling 2(7).CS:GAccione(4). CORNELL  IP  H  E R  BB  SO Whitten, W(1-2)  5.1  10  4  4  4  2 BUlgar, S(1)  3.2  4  1  0  1  1 HARVARD  IP  H  E R  BB  SO Nyweide,L(0-1)  4.1  8  5  4  17 Giampaolo  0.1  2  1  1  1  0 Vail  1.1  0  0  0  0  0 Birtwell  2.0  0  0   0  0  2 Lennon  1.0  1  0  0  0  1