WEB UPDATE: Crimson Gets Roughed Up Down South

They knew it wouldn’t be easy. No matter how tough the competition, though, going 1-7 on a road trip never feels good.

The Harvard baseball team (2-14) struggled on its spring break tour of Louisiana, picking up a win in its first game, but then finishing with a seven-game losing streak heading into the start of its conference schedule tomorrow.

“I look at the record, and this is not where we want to be,” Crimson coach Joe Walsh said. “But the beauty of baseball is things can turn around real quickly.”

Despite the poor results, there was at least one major positive that came from the week in the south. Facing some of the best pitching in the country, the Harvard bats showed that they could produce runs against even the most difficult of opponents.

“Our offense has been banging out a lot of hits every game,” captain Harry Douglas said. “We are looking forward to getting into Ivy play.”

The team took encouragement from the form of some of its more seasoned veterans. Senior outfielder Matt Rogers was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Tuesday for his performances in the first half of the road trip. Rogers hit .445 over the eight games, knocking in eight runs. Douglas made the weekly honor roll after batting .467 with a home run in the series against Centenary.

“[Senior Taylor] Meehan, Douglas, and Rogers are swinging real well in the middle of the order,” Walsh said.

NEW ORLEANS 11, HARVARD 9

A storm and tornado watch in the area may have changed the time of the final game of the Crimson’s road trip, but it was the same old story for Harvard yesterday afternoon.

The close loss to the Privateers summed up the Crimson’s entire road trip. Rogers and Douglas each homered, driving in five runs between the two of them, yet the comeback bid came up just short.

Down 10-3 after six innings, the Crimson was inspired by the appearance of a number of Harvard students, who were able to take a break from some the community service work they were doing in the area.

“It was a thrill for us, after playing in front of some pretty rough crowds,” Walsh said. “It was so nice to hear the ‘Let’s go Harvard’ chants.”

LSU 10, HARVARD 2

The second-ranked team in the country proved too tough for the Crimson, as LSU ran away with a comfortable 10-2 victory to sweep the two-game series. The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second, hitting a pair of home runs off Harvard freshman Brent Suter. The Crimson was able to pull to within one when sophomore center fielder Dillon O'Neill lined a two-run single up the middle. But that would be as close as Harvard would come, as LSU scored two runs in the fourth inning and five in the seventh.

Senior Tom Stack-Babich had a pair of hits in the game and also scored a run for the Crimson.

LSU 4, HARVARD 3

The Crimson nearly pulled off a big upset in the first game of the mini-series. A couple of bunts led to two Harvard runs in the top of the fifth, handing the Crimson a 3-2 advantage. But the Tigers answered right back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame to take a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish.

Freshmen pitchers Will Keuper and Jonah Klees combined to hold the national powerhouse LSU to only six hits in the game.

“That’s tough for any set of pitchers, let alone two freshmen,” Douglas said. “They’ve been looking great.”

Meehan had two hits and an RBI in the loss. The two other Harvard runs were scored on wild pitches.

LOUISIANA-MONROE 11, HARVARD 8

The Crimson outhit the Warhawks, 14-12, in the lone contest between the two teams on Monday, but in the end, could not overcome the 9-1 deficit. Sophomore hurler Dan Berardo, who struggled on the trip, took the loss for the Crimson.

Harvard scored four runs in the sixth inning to make it a game, and added three in the seventh, courtesy of a three-run home run from Rogers. Freshman Marcus Way pitched three innings of relief for the Crimson, allowing just a single hit—a solo homer—to keep ULM at bay.

“We showed some resilience in coming back in a few games over the trip,” Walsh said.

CENTENARY 16, HARVARD 4

Seven unearned runs plagued the Crimson in its final game against the Gents. Harvard had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the third, but Centenary answered with six runs in the bottom of the frame. Another six runs in the eighth sealed the win for the Gents and allowed them to take the four-game series, three games to one.

Sophomore right-hander Anthony Nutter left in the third inning in his first start of the season for the Crimson. Junior Dan Zailskas then pitched through the seventh, allowing only one run. Douglas went 2-for-3 in the game, knocking in two of Harvard’s four runs.

CENTENARY 7, HARVARD 5

Freshman Conner Hulse started the second game of a Saturday doubleheader in Shreveport, LA. The Crimson took a 3-1 lead after a two-run top of the fourth, which included a solo shot from Douglas. But the Gents evened the score later that inning, and added five in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead in the shortened, seven-inning game.

Rogers helped Harvard scrape together a couple of runs in the seventh with a two-run double to left field. But sophomore shortstop Sean O’Hara flied out to center and Douglas grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

CENTENARY 31, HARVARD 8

The Crimson was on the wrong end of an embarrassing scoreline in the first game of the twinbill, giving up 32 hits and committing five errors. Walsh used 25 players in the loss. Senior outfielder Jon Roberts drove in three of the Crimson’s five runs coming off the bench.

The game was effectively over after Harvard was crushed for 13 runs in the opening three innings. The Gents also scored nine runs in the eighth, running the score up to 31-3..

HARVARD 10, CENTENARY 6

The spring break road trip started well, with the Crimson ripping the Gents for four runs in the top of the first. Meehan hit his first home run of the season to get Harvard going in the inning. The second-baseman finished the game 3-for-5 with 4 RBI.

Suter got the start for the Crimson, picking up the win after giving up seven hits over six innings. The left-hander—whose heat was hitting 90 mph on the radar gun—was removed after Centenary pulled to within two runs with three in the seventh. But fellow-freshman Klees came in to seal the victory, pitching three innings of scoreless relief.