Injuries Mount Right as Ivy Season Hits Climactic End

Harvard’s injury bug is turning into something of an epidemic.

Junior second baseman Brendan Byrne will be out for the year with a torn meniscus, meaning the Crimson’s preferred keystone combination will remain in pieces for the rest of 2006. Byrne underwent surgery on Friday and has been recovering at home, sources close to the team said. According to Harvard coach Joe Walsh, he should be healthy in roughly eight weeks.

The junior suffered the knee injury on April 15, in Game One of a four-game set against Yale, and had not been in action since. He had been having an off-year up until that point, recording a .169 mark at the plate after hitting .326 with a .388 OBP in 2005.

As a result, Walsh has shuffled his infield to find a replacement, a strategy which continued against Brown on Saturday. In Game One, Walsh tried out freshman Matt Rogers as well as sophomores Taylor Meehan and Jeff Stoeckel at second base.

Stoeckel, notably, usually relegated to the role of defensive replacement, earned the sole slot on the lineup card in Game Two and made the most of it. In just the second start of his collegiate career, he hit a hard line drive to center—his first collegiate base knock—and then laid down a key sacrifice bunt in the seventh before notching an RBI single in the eighth.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

Stoeckel, as a result, may be seeing the most time out of the trio as the Ivy stretch heats up. But that’s partially because Meehan will probably be occupied, and not for any reason Walsh wants to see.

Senior first baseman Josh Klimkiewicz, the Ivy League RBI leader, was taken out of Game One Saturday after attempting to reel in a wide Steffan Wilson throw to first. While extending his left arm to catch Wilson’s attempt to throw out a bunting Steve Daniels, Daniels ran right into Klimkiewicz’s arm, injuring his elbow.

After Saturday’s doubleheader, Klimkiewicz had “no feeling in his elbow or in his fingers,” Walsh said, noting the effect of the cold. “It could be a stinger, where it was just out-stretched. He could wake up in the morning and feel real good. Or it could be really serious.”

For now, Klimkiewicz is day-to-day.

After being helped off the field, Wilson moved from the hot corner to first base, with Meehan replacing him at third, where he will likely remain in Klimkiewicz’s absence.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ANCIENT EIGHT

While the one-two punch of Shawn Haviland and Adam Cole impressively locked down the Bears on Saturday, the best performance of the weekend was certainly not found in Cambridge—nor did it result in a victory.

In Hanover, N.H., Dartmouth right-hander Josh Faiola (5-2) turned in a Herculean effort in a 12-inning, 2-1 complete game loss to Yale. The senior walked two, allowed seven hits, and surrendered only one earned run while throwing a mind-boggling 145 pitches on the day.

Faiola, an All-Ivy first-teamer as a sophomore, had struggled a bit last season, going 3-3 with a 4.96 ERA. But with his most recent effort, he certainly appears to have found his groove. The 12-inning endeavor lowered the Colorado native’s ERA to a league-best 1.90, complementing his five complete games in seven games started.

So how did the Bulldogs manage to eke out a win against Faiola, good for a weekend split with the Big Green? Starter Mike Mongiardini (seven innings) and reliever Matt Fealey (five innings) allowed just four hits all day, fanning nine and rendering Faiola the hardest luck loser the Ivy League has seen in a long time.

SHORT HOPS

Because Sunday’s games were postponed, Lance Salsgiver’s highly anticipated first start of the season may never become reality. A two-time high school All-American, the senior right-fielder fanned 267 batters in 160 innings during his legendary Davison High School career. As it stands, the Crimson’s recently effective duo of Matt Brunnig and Javy Castellanos—both of whom pitched on Saturday—will take the hill on Monday afternoon....After taking on Brown on Monday, Harvard will play Boston College in the Beanpot Championship at Fenway Park on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Eagles one-hit the Crimson in a 10-0 thumping on April 11, also known as “the most devastating loss I’ve ever been involved in, as a coach or a player,” according to Joe Walsh....Speaking of Yale relief work, the Bulldogs bullpen continues to hang tough: of their four most commonly used relievers, Fealey’s 2.78 ERA actually stands as the worst mark. Adam Barrick (0.00 ERA), closer Brett Rosenthal (1.32), and John Henry Davis (2.12) are putting together superb years in relief....Award-winning author and Boston sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy was on hand to enjoy bits and pieces of the Crimson’s Saturday sweep. He once again found himself making the short walk over from Soldiers Field, where his daughter, junior Sarah Shaughnessy, was taking on Princeton with the softball team.

—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.