Baseball Splits with Brown, Finishes Third in Division

After pulling out a 3-2 extra-inning victory in the first game of its doubleheader with Brown on Friday, the Harvard baseball team died a slow and agonizing death in the second game, falling 2-1.

The twin bill featured a pair of classic pitching duels, as three of the four starters went the distance, and the fourth, Harvard freshman Kenon Ronz, exited the game only after it stretched into extra frames.

But while the Crimson (18-25, 10-10 Ivy) was able to overcome a shortage of runs to prevail in the first game, its offensive shortcomings spelled its doom in the second game, spoiling yet another strong pitching performance by a Harvard starter.

With the loss, Harvard finishes third among the four teams in the Red Rolfe Division. The Bears (23-24, 11-9) also become the third Ivy League team to take three out of its four games against the Crimson this season.

"This is the earliest that I personally have ever wrapped up a season," said Harvard coach Joe Walsh. "It's not fun when you've got some days left in May and you're not playing."

Brown 2, Harvard 1

For the second time in as many weeks, Brown starter Jim Johnson (6-2) proved too much for the Crimson hitters.

Having allowed just three runs on eight hits en route to the win against the Crimson on April 24, Johnson pitched even more effectively on Friday, limiting Harvard to six hits and one earned run in nine innings of work.

The complete game was the seventh of the season for Johnson, who gave the Harvard hitters fits despite working with a limited arsenal of pitches.

"We got shut down by a two-pitch pitcher," Walsh said.

Johnson's effort overshadowed yet another fine outing by Harvard ace John Birtwell (2-3), who struck out seven while walking only one in nine innings.

The junior righthander actually allowed fewer hits than Johnson, but two of those hits were triples surrendered with less than two outs. On both of those occasions, the Bears were able to push across the run, providing Johnson with all the offense he would need.

"Birtwell pitched one heck of a ballgame," Walsh said. "When you've got your number one pitcher going, you've got to win those games."

The Crimson, however, struggled to provide Birtwell with any run support. After Harvard senior first baseman Erik Binkowski smacked an RBI single in the bottom of the second, the Crimson failed to put any additional runs on the board.

Harvard's best scoring chance after the second inning came in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore shortstop Mark Mager reached on a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior center fielder Scott Carmack.

After junior first baseman John Franey flied out to left field for the second out of the inning, sophomore catcher Brian Lentz hammered a deep drive to deep right field that appeared destined for the wall.

But despite getting a late jump on the ball, Brown right fielder Joe Stepp managed to make a backpedaling catch before falling over backwards.

The play was anything but pretty, but it took a sure extra-base hit away from Lentz and prevented Harvard from scoring the tying run.

"I thought [Stepp]made the play of the game," Walsh said. "That catch was a real momentum-breaker for us."

Harvard managed two singles off Johnson in the last three innings of the game but could not advance either of those runners past first base.

The meat of the Harvard order was particularly ineffective at the plate. On the afternoon, the Crimson's three, four and five hitters went a combined 2-for-11 with a pair of strikeouts.

Harvard's offensive woes forced Walsh to make a couple of rare calls, including the decision to have Carmack, the team's three-hole hitter, lay down a bunt in the sixth.

"We didn't get a lot out of the middle of the line-up," Walsh said. "When you're not getting production out of the three and four spots, it's really tough."

The defeat at the hands of Brown gave Harvard its 10th league loss of the season. Before this year, Harvard had lost a combined 10 league games in the previous four seasons.

Harvard 3, Brown 2 (9 innings)

In the first game of the doubleheader, an RBI-single by sophomore third baseman Nick Carter gave Harvard a 3-2 victory in an extended nine innings.

Sophomore hurler Ben Crockett (4-4) earned the win for the Crimson, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Crockett had entered the game in the top of the eighth in place of freshman starter Kenon Ronz.

Ronz had worked the previous 7.1 innings, allowing just six hits and two runs, neither of which were earned.

The first of those two runs came in the top of the second. Brown shortstop Dan Kantrovitz started the inning with a double, moved to third base on a passed ball, and then scored on a groundout by first baseman Shaun Gallagher.

The Crimson, however, responded in the bottom of the inning, when sophomore second baseman Josh San Salvador smacked a two-run homer over the wall in right field.

The dinger was the second in as many games for San Salvador, who, before last Thursday, had gone homerless in 128 at-bats.

Brown reached Ronz for its second run in the top of the fourth, tying the game at 2-2.

From that point on, however, both Ronz and Brown starter Jamie Grillo (4-3) held the opposition scoreless, forcing the game into extra innings and setting up Carter's late-game heroics.

Before Carter was able to drive in the winning run, however, the Crimson caught a break that enabled the go-ahead runner to move into scoring position.

With Lentz on first and Grillo working to Carter, Walsh called for a hit-and-run. Lentz took off with the pitch, but the ball came in high on Carter, and he let the pitch go by.

Brown catcher Greg Metzger then fired down to second. A good throw would have surely had Lentz, who had started to retreat to first upon realizing that Carter had not swung at the pitch.

But Metzger's throw bounced into center field, enabling Lentz to reach second safely.

"Grillo hadn't been up high the whole ballgame," Walsh said. "We caught a break, no doubt about it."

With Lentz given a second life on the basepaths, the right-handed hitting Carter came through with a single to the opposite side, giving him his team-leading 27th RBI of the season.

"Nick did the right thing, hitting the ball to the right side to try and move the runner over to third base," Walsh said. "The ball ended up getting through, and so we won the game."

On a day in which Harvard hitters struggled at the plate, Carter hit the ball better than most.

Carter was the only Crimson batter to enjoy a multi-hit game on the afternoon.

"Nick gives you a chance up there," Walsh said. "He's an aggressive hitter."

The win Friday was Harvard's fifth win of the year by a single run. The victory also improved the Crimson's record in extra-innings games to 3-3.

Notes

Sophomore second baseman Faiz Shakir, who entered the day Friday with just one hit in his last 19 at-bats, did not appear in the starting lineup in either of the two games against Brown. In his place, Walsh gave San Salvador the nod at second.

Notes

"Shakir had a great year for us," Walsh said. "But he just got a little bit physically beat in the end, and his bat slowed down."

Mager and junior left fielder Joe Llanes were the only two Crimson hitters who finished the year above .300. Harvard had six players accomplish the feat last season.

In his last five appearances of the season, Ronz boasted a 1.79 ERA in 25.2 innings with 20 strikeouts. His record over that span: 0-2.