Brown, Rain Thwart Baseball

Sophomore righty Marc Hordon had Brown swinging in the rain through six innings yesterday, notching ten strikeouts before facing pinch hitter John Capello with one out in a tie game. Hordon looked poised to make Capello—who had only appeared in ten games this year—victim No. 11 when he flailed wildly at the first two pitches.

But Capello kept swinging and knocked Hordon’s 0-2 pitch through the rain-filled air past the trees in right field. The towering solo shot lifted Brown to a 3-2 win in the soggy opener of what was supposed to be a makeup of Sunday’s doubleheader at O’Donnell Field.

But midway through the second inning of Game Two, the contest was called. The skies had opened up right around the start of Game One, and the persistent rain forced the series finale to be rescheduled yet again—this time for 3 p.m. today.

Senior Chaney Sheffield threw the two innings of the aborted second game for the Crimson yesterday, but junior Barry Wahlberg will likely take the hill for Harvard (14-21, 10-5 Ivy) this afternoon.

Harvard and Brown (22-20, 10-5) are now tied atop the Red Rolfe Division standings. The winner of today’s game will control its own playoff fate heading into the final weekend of Ivy League play.

Hordon (2-2) seemed in total control of his fate midway through the seventh inning yesterday. Brown leadoff hitter Rick Lynn walked to start the game, stole two bases and scored on a single by Matt Kutler, but Hordon settled into a rhythm after that, holding Brown to five hits the rest of the way. The last, however, was Capello’s bomb.

“He pitched a great game,” Harvard Coach Joe Walsh said. “I didn’t think anyone could have taken him out there.”

Harvard could have led going into the final frame. Senior outfielder Javy Lopez led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and fellow senior Faiz Shakir sacrificed him over to second. After a second out, first baseman Josh San Salvador and shortstop Mark Mager worked consecutive walks —Mager after swinging on a 3-0 pitch—loading the bases for sophomore Bryan Hale.

But Hale, facing a full count with two outs, watched a perfect pitch by reliever Dan Spring (3-4) go by him, ending the rally and setting the stage for Capello’s heroics.

“A knock here and there could’ve broken it open,” Walsh said.

It was a game of near misses for Harvard. Senior Nick Carter, mired in a season-long slump, was robbed of a run-scoring double when rightfielder James Lowe made a sparkling catch in the fifth. Camped out on third base later in the inning, freshman Schuyler Mann started home on a ball Brown starter Chris Davidson threw in the dirt, only to get caught in a rundown when the catcher recovered it.

“Good pitching will always beat good hitting, but today we had two good pitchers going,” Lopez said. “The good teams are the ones that get the clutch hits in those close games.”

The Crimson scraped back from a 2-0 deficit in the fourth inning. San Salvador—making his return from a leg injury—worked a four-pitch walk with runners on first and third to load the bases with two outs for Mager. Mager singled in two runs to tie the ball game and advanced to second on the throw home, but Hale grounded out to end the fourth.

Now, the Crimson hopes to salvage a series tie with Wahlberg on the mound. Wahlberg will look to ride the momentum of a dominant relief appearance against the Bears on Saturday, when he shut down the Brown lineup for 2.1 no-hit innings.

Notes

The Crimson’s scheduled game against Vermont, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. today, has been postponed... San Salvador finished the game 0-for-1 with two walks... Despite being a low-scoring, seven-inning contest, the opening game took 2:58 to complete.