Baseball Captures First Place

After a one year hiatus, the Harvard baseball dynasty is on the cusp of once again reigning atop the Red Rolfe Division.

The Crimson took three of four games at Brown this weekend to move into sole possession of first place in the four-team division. Even if second-place Brown wins all six of its remaining Ivy games, Harvard (16-21, 10-6 Ivy) can still clinch the Red Rolfe title outright by taking three out of four this weekend against Dartmouth.

“We’re confident,” freshman center fielder Bryan Hale said. “With our pitching, we can beat anybody.”

The Crimson—which has now won eight of its last 12 games—rode solid pitching and hot hitting to its three wins against the Bears this weekend.

Harvard 15, Brown 8

Harvard junior Ben Crockett fanned a career-high 12 batters, and the Crimson banged out a season-best 21 hits to take a 15-8 win in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader.

Harvard trailed 4-2 before taking the lead for good in the top of the fourth inning. After juniors Nick Carter and Brian Lentz reached to start off the inning, shortstop Mark Mager stroked an RBI single and Hale later added a two-run single to put Harvard ahead.

The Crimson then put the game away with eight more runs in the fifth.

Crockett improved to 3-4 with the win, while Brown starter Frank Philbrick—who allowed eight runs on tens hits in four innings—fell to 2-5 with the loss.

Harvard 11, Brown 5

In the early game Sunday, Harvard sophomore lefty Kenon Ronz didn’t have his best stuff.

As it turned out, he didn’t need it anyway.

Ronz gave up four runs on eight hits in four innings of work, but still received his third win of the year thanks to another overpowering effort

by Harvard’s hitters.

The Crimson struck for seven runs in the first four innings, chasing Brown starter Jamie Grillo from the game in the top of the third.

“We were able to get into their bullpen early,” senior outfielder Joe Llanes said. “That’s something we haven’t done a lot this year.”

Hale went 2-for-3 with a homer in the win, knocking in five of Harvard’s 11 runs.

Brown 10, Harvard 7

A sweep on Sunday became important after Harvard fell 10-7 in the late game on Saturday.

Harvard took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but three Crimson errors allowed Brown to bring across five runs to steal the win.

“We gift-wrapped the game for them,” said Llanes, who hit a pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth.

Brown starter Jim Johnson picked up the win despite surrendering seven runs on thirteen hits in the game.

Harvard ace John Birtwell took the loss.

Harvard 8, Brown 0

The opening game of the weekend series featured yet another gem by junior starter Justin Nyweide.

The Crimson righthander hurled a four-hit shutout, going the distance while striking out four.

It was his second win in as many outings after dropping his first four decisions.

Brown starter Jonathan Stern pitched well except for one inning, as the Crimson exploded for seven unearned runs in the top of the third.

Junior first baseman Josh San Salvador and outfielder Javy Lopez each chipped in two-run singles, and Carter also knocked in a run to highlight the wild inning.

The Crimson belted out 12 hits in the game, including three from San Salvador and two each from Carmack, Mager, and Carter.