Baseball Seeks Fresh Start Against URI

The Harvard baseball team looks to reverse a lackluster 3-11 start when it travels to Kingston, R.I., to face URI today. This contest marks the Crimson’s last game before Ivy League play begins this weekend at Princeton and Cornell.

Starting for Harvard against the Rams (13-12) will most probably be junior Kenon Ronz, though the Crimson expects to use four or five pitchers in the game.

“We’ve been helped by having last Saturday and Sunday off,” senior pitcher Justin Nyweide said. “We’ll have rested arms, and we’ll be ready with increased excitement and urgency with the weekend competition.”

The Crimson has suffered defeat against tough competition to open its season, beginning with a three-game series at No. 3 Rice that left Harvard in the hole 0-3.

The highlight of the trip was the strong start of captain Ben Crockett (1-1) in the second game. Crockett was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week for his eight-inning, six-strikeout effort, though he received the loss with the Crimson falling 2-1.

Crockett continued his stellar start to the season when the team traveled to Florida over spring break to participate in the Homestead Challenge. The field included nationally-ranked Ohio State and Florida Atlantic.

Harvard posted a 3-8 record for the Florida trip with two wins over Lafayette and one over St. Thomas. The 3-2 victory over Lafayette on Mar. 24 snapped a six-game season-opening skid for the Crimson.

“Our main goal is to start putting all the pieces together with our fielding, pitching, and hitting,” Nyweide said. “Once it’s all together—there were glimpses in Florida—that’s when we’ll start winning.”

Crockett earned his first win of the year in Harvard’s 10-3 victory over Lafayette last Thursday, posting nine strikeouts in seven innings and allowing no earned runs. That line, combined with his 12 strikeouts in a 5-3 loss to No. 23 Ohio State the previous Saturday, earned Crockett another Ivy League Pitcher of the Week award.

The Crimson has suffered from inconsistent offense this season. Sophomore infielder Trey Hendricks has two home runs, but no other player for the Crimson has connected for a long ball thus far. Sophomore infielder Marc Hordon leads Harvard’s hitters with a .357 average and a team-high 15 hits. Hendricks and freshman catcher Schuyler Mann hold the team lead in RBI with five apiece.

“We’re swinging the bats fine, but things just aren’t going our way,” Hendricks said. “Things will start turning around—you call it batting average for a reason—and we’ll start winning.”

Luckily, Harvard’s hitters will not have to face URI’s freshman pitching sensation Mike Harris (3-0), who started last night. The biggest headline grabber for the Rams this season, Harris was named the Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week last week.

Harris delivered the first URI no-hitter in 18 years in a 6-0 victory over Sacred Heart last Wednesday. He allowed just one baserunner in the gem.

The Rams enter today’s game with a five-game winning streak after its 5-0 defeat of Connecticut last night. Harris pitched another stellar game, allowing just two hits in a complete-game effort.

Center fielder Jared Trout, catcher Mike Schiappa, and shortstop Justin Lamboy had two hits apiece in the URI victory.

URI is second in the Atlantic 10 East standings with a 3-3 conference record.

Harvard has lost to the Rams each of the past two years, but the team is more concerned with its Ivy opener on Saturday.

“A win would be a great momentum booster for this weekend,” Nyweide said. “We have to take each game we can to get back to .500 and work to go beyond that.”

The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.