NOTEBOOK: Harvard falls to UMass in the opening round of the Beanpot

LYNN, MASS.—During the most recent stretch of the Crimson’s season-long offensive woes, a pattern has emerged: on the days head coach Joe Walsh receives his best pitching performances, his lineup’s bats just can’t string together hits.

In Harvard’s recent run of hard-luck losers, freshman Anthony Nutter was the latest. In his first collegiate start, Nutter held Massachusetts scoreless through the first five innings and allowed three runs over seven-plus innings of work in a 3-0 loss to the Minutemen in the opening round of the Beanpot Tournament at Fraser Field.

“Making his first start and being so composed out there, he did a real good job,” Walsh said. “Giving us as many innings as he did, too—I was hoping for five. I was hesitant to take him out—he could have kept going.”

Nutter’s performance marked the second impressive start by a freshman in as many days. In Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at Cornell—its first win of the Ivy slate and its second overall—rookie Zach Hofeld threw a complete-game four-hitter to allow the Crimson’s slumping lineup to stay in it.

Last night, Nutter worked quickly, allowing a baserunner in each inning he pitched except the seventh.

POWER OUTAGE

UMass starter Mike Dicato was the latest opposing pitcher to find success against the quiet Harvard bats. Paradoxically, the Crimson’s newcomers have enjoyed more success than its veterans

“Our offense has been stagnant—we’re feeling it one through nine,” Walsh said. “Everybody’s trying to do something. We can’t get it going.”

Since belting two home runs in last Wednesday’s game at Holy Cross, captain Matt Vance has been mired in a 2-for-24 slump that has included 10 strikeouts. Last night, the captain’s woes continued: Vance went 0-for-3 with a walk, and grounded into two double plays. The second—a comebacker to the pitcher that turned into a 1-4-3 twin killer—erasing senior Taylor Meehan, who had singled to put a much-needed leadoff man on for Harvard in the bottom of the ninth.

Vance isn’t the only upperclassman struggling at the plate—several veteran presences are falling short of preseason expectations. Batting in the cleanup spot, junior Harry Douglas went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Dicato also had senior Jeff Stoeckel off balance, inducing a strikeout and a double-play grounder.

An injury to senior Tom Stack-Babich, another middle-of-the-lineup presence, hasn’t helped matters.



BASE-BRAWL

The pitcher’s duel received some added drama in the top of the eighth inning, when a collision at the plate between senior Matt Kramer and Minuteman Ryan Franczek led to a tangle between players and a clearing of both dugouts.

When the UMass’s Bryan Garrity singled to right, Brain Baudinet scored easily but Franczek came barreling home from third with Kramer ready to take a booming throw from Crimson rightfielder Matt Rogers. Kramer sustained the collision with Franczek and held on to the ball to record the inning’s third out, but a scuffle between the players after the umpire’s initial call quickly emptied players from both sides.

“I just tagged the guy and I didn’t really see the umpire make the call—I may have gone for a little extra tag after,” Kramer said. “Guys came up and got a little heated there.”

Kramer, who had an excellent game behind the plate with two runners thrown out stealing and two tagged out in close plays at home, did not initiate contact with Franczek after the play.

“From my standpoint it was a banger at the plate, and when they got up there was a little more of a collision,” Walsh added. “It’s a just a banger, hard-nosed play.”



NO WAY, FENWAY

The trip home from Lynn took on a second bad layer for Harvard, who learned that for the second year in a row, it will not play at Fenway Park in the second and final round of the Beanpot tournament.

The Boston Red Sox moved both the Beanpot final and consolation games from next Wednesday to next Tuesday, and ruled that only the final will be played at the historic ballpark. The time and location of Harvard’s consolation matchup has yet to be announced.

Last season, a makeup of a previously-postponed game against Yale was scheduled for the day of the Beanpot consolation game, and the necessity of making up a conference matchup took precedence over the chance to play at Fenway.

“We work out our schedule every year to include the Beanpot, and it just hasn’t been a great relationship,” Walsh said. “With the new management and their approach and style, I’m glad I’m a Marlins fan.”

—Staff writer Emily W. Cunningham can be reached at ecunning@fas.harvard.edu.