Second Inning Woes Doom Crimson Against Bryant

In many Harvard classes, students benefit from the chance to drop a dismal midterm or wayward problem set. Unfortunately for Crimson baseball, there is no such provision for a single devastating inning. Harvard (7-20, 5-3 Ivy League) allowed six runs in the second against Bryant University (24-9) in an 8-2 defeat yesterday during an otherwise even contest in Smithfield, R.I.

The Crimson could not muster much of an offensive charge against Bulldogs senior starter Dan Lozeau, who strung together an effective 5.2 innings, yielding two earned runs on seven hits.

“We had a few opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on,” captain Harry Douglas said. “We didn’t take advantage of a couple times when we had runners in scoring position,”

Sophomore Dillon O’Neill had the best day at the plate for Harvard, going 3-for-4 after replacing sophomore Sam Franklin in center field. Sophomore catcher Tyler Albright also collected a pair of hits. But the main threat for the Crimson in the mid-week tuneup proved to be senior slugger Tom Stack-Babich, who continued to torment opposing pitching with a solo shot to right field in the sixth.

The Harvard bats were silent early, however, as the visitors found themselves in a big hole. Bryant tagged freshman starter Will Keuper with six runs on eight hits in the second frame, including three doubles. The lefty avoided walking any Bulldog batter, but simply suffered a hit parade at the hands of a talented lineup that has bested prominent programs such as Virginia Tech and Boston College.

Bryant senior Pat McKenna and junior Nick Campbell led the way for the Bulldogs with two RBIs each with three and four hits, respectively.

Although Keuper struggled early on, the squad recovered due to stellar bullpen work from young Crimson arms. Freshman Conner Hulse posted the best outing of the day, after relieving Keuper to finish the second. The hurler Harvard coach Joe Walsh has called “a bulldog” worked 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out three and walking none.

“Today was the first time I really felt comfortable on the mound all year,” Hulse said. “I felt like I had all of my stuff, so I was pretty excited about [my effort].”

Hulse’s teammates also took note of the performance, as Douglas praised the rookie’s ability to mix pitches.

“Conner’s a good pitcher, so whenever he’s in the game we’re feeling pretty confident,” Douglas said. “He was throwing strikes and his breaking stuff was really good today, in addition to the fastball.”

Freshmen Jonah Klees and Marcus Way, along with sophomore Dan Berardo, also saw time on the mound for Harvard, as the visitors held a potent Bryant offense to only two runs for the remainder of the contest.

With the Bulldogs bats in check, the Crimson began to show life in the fifth inning. Junior first baseman Dan Zailskas opened the frame with a base hit, followed by O’Neill and senior second baseman Taylor Meehan loading the bases with singles.

With the sacks filled and no outs, Harvard looked to cut into the 6-0 deficit, but an untimely double play halted the rally. Although the Crimson plated Zailskas, it would earn only one more run in the contest, courtesy of Stack-Babich’s longball.

“We definitely should have put up a lot more runs,” Hulse said. “Recently we’ve hit the ball really well, but right at [opposing] fielders.”

Without its typical run support, Harvard could not take advantage of a few quality showings on the mound. In addition to Hulse, Berardo continued to look strong with a third consecutive scoreless outing—this time allowing two harmless hits over an inning of work. The Crimson will look for the sophomore to put together a longer stretch of shutout ball as a starter.

The southpaw Klees also threw effectively over two innings—limiting Bryant to just a run while fanning three batters—but Harvard knows that such efforts will prove more important during a four-game weekend slate against Yale.

The Crimson hosts its Ivy League foe for consecutive double headers on Saturday and Sunday—significant games in the tight Rolfe Division.

“We’re looking forward to [the matchup],” Douglas said. “Obviously there’s a rivalry there and it’s always competitive. We just want to come out hard this weekend.”

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.