Crockett's Red Glare

Sooner or later, you’d figure senior pitcher Ben Crockett would actually get to celebrate one of his record-book performances.

Last weekend was not that time. But the Harvard baseball team is hoping next Saturday will be.

Almost one year to the date after his no-hitter against Dartmouth, Crockett struck out a school-record 17 batters in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Brown at O’Donnell Field.

Just like in his masterpiece against the Big Green—which was made irrelevant by the Crimson’s stretch-run collapse—Crockett (3-3) was not able to savor his historic outing Saturday. Brown (21-20, 9-5 Ivy) spoiled those hopes with a three-run outburst in the sixth inning that lifted the Bears to a 6-5 victory and pulled them within one of game of first-place Harvard (14-20, 10-4).

“I guess it’s an honor to have something like that happen,” Crockett said about the strikeout record, “but it’s kind of bittersweet to have it happen when you lose a game that has the potential to affect the season.”

The Crimson won the early game Saturday, 4-2, thanks to home runs by sophomore first baseman Trey Hendricks and freshman catcher Schuyler Mann. The win kept Harvard atop the Red Rolfe Division standings.

The Crimson was scheduled to meet Brown for another doubleheader yesterday, but the games were rained out and rescheduled for this afternoon.

If Harvard can win both games today, the Crimson could then clinch the Ivy title outright with a sweep of Dartmouth at home next Saturday.

Should that scenario play out, Crockett would be in line to pitch the potential division clincher in Saturday’s nightcap. He will enter the contest just six strikeouts shy of the all-time Harvard record of 206, set by Paul De Rossi ’64.

But before any of that can matter, Harvard must hold its ground in today’s games. Sophomore Marc Hordon (2-1, 0.86 ERA) and senior Chaney Sheffield (1-1, 4.50) are slated to take the hill for Harvard. The first game begins at noon.

Brown 6, Harvard 5

After suffering through a rocky three-run sixth inning that pushed his pitch count up to 120, Crockett not only came out to work the seventh, he struck out the side in order.

That stamina is the difference between Crockett and most every other pitcher in the Ivy League. But it wasn’t enough to spare him the loss, as the Bears made up the ground they lost earlier in the day with a 6-5 win.

With Harvard trailing 6-3 in the eighth, senior shortstop Mark Mager hit a triple down the right-field line and Hendricks followed with his second homer of the afternoon to narrow the deficit to one.

Brown centerfielder Rick Lynn almost robbed Hendricks of the round-tripper as he stretched his arm over the fence and into the bushes to get a glove on the ball, but he could not squeeze it.

Hendricks’ poke chased Brown starter Jamie Grillo from the game. His replacement, righthander Dan Springer, got off to a shaky start when he walked Mann with no outs, but the Crimson failed to advance him past first base.

The scene would be repeated in the ninth, as sophomore centerfielder Bryan Hale drew a leadoff walk, but was stranded at first. Mager fanned to end the game and snap the Crimson’s five-game Ivy winning streak.

Crockett had an up-and-down afternoon. In between his strikeouts, he surrendered 12 hits, two walks and a hit batsman. Brown touched him up for one run in the second and two more in the third, but the most exhausting stretch for Crockett came in the sixth.

In that inning, Brown sent eight men to the plate and three of them scored. The first, catcher Greg Metzger, was forced home when Crockett plunked pinch hitter James Lowe with the bases loaded. The other two scored on a two-run single up the middle by Lynn.

Crockett bounced back to work a relatively easy, 14-pitch seventh, recording all his outs on punch-outs. The last of those pushed Crockett’s whiff total up to 17, besting the 34-year-old Harvard record by one.

“We had some success painting the outside corner with the fastball,” Mann said of Crockett’s success in the seventh. “They couldn’t catch up with it.”

Crockett was lifted after facing two batters in the eighth. Senior Mike Dryden relieved him and induced back-to-back pop outs to end the inning.

Crockett threw 140 pitches on the afternoon.

“He’s definitely a horse for us,” Wahlberg said. “If we’re going to have success, he’s going to have to throw a lot of innings for us. He’s conditioned to throw probably 10 innings. He’s just out there pitching until he’s tired. I don’t think a pitch count necessarily came into play.”

Grillo (4-2) received the win for Brown. He struggled early on, but escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the first when Mann grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.

Harvard scored two runs off Grillo in the third when senior second baseman Faiz Shakir hit a gap shot to left-center with the bases full. Hale and sophomore Marc Hordon scored with ease, but the inning ended abruptly when the Bears gunned down senior Javy Lopez, who had been waved around from first by Harvard Coach Joe Walsh.

It was the third time Harvard has had a runner cut down at the plate in the past week.

Harvard 4, Brown 2

Two weeks ago against Penn, Walsh couldn’t find a reliever who could keep the ball in the ballpark. Last Saturday, the bullpen provided everything he could ask for and more.

The double-barrelled relief tandem of juniors Kenon Ronz and Barry Wahlberg combined to put out a three-alarm fire in the fifth as Harvard held on for a 4-2 win. Wahlberg stayed on to close out the final two innings, earning his third save of the season.

Senior starter Justin Nyweide (4-2) retired the side in order in three of the first four innings, but started to tire in the fifth. He gave up a solo homer to third baseman Jeff Nichols to start the inning, then allowed Brown’s next two hitters to reach on a double and a single. After a sacrifice fly plated the Bears’ second run, Nyweide hit second baseman Rob Deeb with a pitch to put runners at the corners with just the one out.

That’s when Walsh summoned Ronz, the Crimson’s one-time weekend starter who has settled into his new role of situational lefty. Ronz answered the call, striking out the lefthanded-hitting Matt Kutler.

Kutler was Brown’s leading hitter going into the weekend with a .377 average.

“I think the key to the game [Saturday] was Kenon getting that left-handed batter out,” Wahlberg said. “He’s been a starter before, but I think his role now is going to be getting the left-handed hitters. That’s huge if he can continue to do that.”

After Kutler was retired, Wahlberg came in and pitched a lights-out 2.1 innings, fanning five of the seven batters he faced.

“I just tried to throw strikes, let the defense help me and limit the damage as much as possible,” Wahlberg said. “I’ve been lucky in terms of getting nice calls from our catchers. We’ve been clicking pretty well.”

Harvard led from start to finish Saturday, pounding a pair of first-inning homers off Brown starter Jonathan Stern. The hot-hitting Hendricks struck first, blasting a one-out bomb with senior Faiz Shakir on first after getting hit by a pitch.

Mann connected two hitters later, blasting a 1-0 fastball over the wall in right-center to give the Crimson a 3-0 lead.

“The first pitch was offspeed in the dirt and I figured ... they were going to challenge me,” Mann said. “They threw a fastball right down the middle.”

Harvard added its final run in the fourth, when Mager singled home sophomore catcher Mickey Kropf, who had doubled.

Stern (6-3) finished his afternoon with four runs charged to him, three of them earned. He allowed eight hits and one walk while striking out nine.

Brown 6, Harvard 5

at O’Donnell Field, Allston, MA

Brown (21-20,9-5) 012 003 000 — 6 12 1

Harvard (14-20, 10-4) 021 000 020 — 5 9 0

2B: H—Shakir (4), Mager (11), Hendricks (11). B—Cappello (1), Royster (2), Nichols (7). HR: H—Hendricks (5). SH: B—Contrino (2). SB: B—Lynn (26). CS: H—Hale (4). B—Kutler (5). Pitchers: H—Crockett L, 3-3 (7.1 IP, 6 ER, 17 K), Dryden (0.2, 0 ER, 0 K), Ronz (1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 K). B—Grillo W, 4-2 (7.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 K), Springer (2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 K). Attendance: 344

Harvard 4, Brown 2

at O’Donnell Field, Allston, MA

Brown (20-20, 8-5) 000 020 0 — 2 4 1

Harvard (14-19, 10-3) 300 100 X — 4 8 0

2B: H—Mann (4), Kropf (6). B—Magaletti (1). HR: H—Hendricks (4), Mann (3). B—Nichols (3). SH: B—Magaletti (7). H—Seminara (2). SF: B—Lynn (3). SB: H—Mager (3), Carter (1). Pitchers: H—Nyweide W, 4-2 (4.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 K), Ronz (0.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 K), Wahlberg (2.1 IP, 0 H, 5 K). B—Stern L, 6-3 (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 9 K). Attendance: 397.