Crimson Rally Falls Short Against BC in Beanpot

The pitching was sharp and the bats stayed hot, but once again Harvard could not avoid the Beanpot blues.

Taking on Boston College (16-17, 6-9 ACC) in the first round of the Beanpot tournament at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass. yesterday afternoon, the Crimson baseball team (11-18, 4-4 Ivy) nearly doubled the Eagles in hits—13 to seven—but fell short where it mattered, winding up on the wrong side of a 10-9 defeat.

“We hit well, guys got on base,” junior captain Tyler Albright said. “We needed to score a few more runs earlier in the game, but we showed fight. We were able to battle.”

Harvard posted plenty of offense late in the contest, following a three-run eighth inning with a five-run ninth to nearly tie the game, but the Crimson could not plate the final run as freshman Kyle Larrow struck out swinging with the bases loaded.

Still, just one day after a wild 13-12 victory over Northeastern, Albright was pleased with the team’s resilience.

“I felt like the team was pretty relaxed [in the late innings],” the catcher said. “Everybody just let the pitcher throw and waited for something to hit.”

But the offensive explosion proved too little, too late, as Harvard lamented wasting a strong outing from rookie pitcher Andrew Ferreira. The first-year starter held BC hitless through five innings, keeping the Eagle batters guessing with an accurate fastball and big, lefty curveball.

“[Ferreira’s] first five innings were some of the best five innings I’ve seen in a college baseball uniform,” said Crimson coach Joe Walsh, a 29-year veteran. “He had a Zito-eqsue breaking ball, starting at the armpits and [ending up] down at the knees. BC had five left-handers [in the lineup], and he was neutralizing them, mesmerizing them—whatever verb you want to use.”

Unfortunately for Harvard, it scored just one run of its own in those five innings, when back-to-back two-out singles from Larrow and junior Sean O’Hara plated senior Chris Rouches in the top of the third.

And with Eagles starter Chris Kowalski and reliever Kevin Moran holding their opponents scoreless for the next three innings, it was only a matter of time before the BC offense struck—and it did so forcefully in the bottom of the sixth.

The Eagles’ ninth hitter, Brad Zapenas, opened the frame with the first hit of the day against Ferreira, a single through the left side of the infield. Although a failed pickoff attempt moved Zapenas to second, it seemed that the damage would be limited when BC head coach Mik Aoki opted to play small-ball and sacrifice the runner to third. With a 1-2 count, Ferreira threw consecutive pitches that appeared to cross the plate, according to Walsh. The umpire ruled both balls, and second baseman Matt Hamlet laced the next pitch down the left-field line for a double, just past a drawn-in infield.

“I’m not one to go griping about calls and umpires, but there was no doubt from anyone in our dugout that [Hamlet] should have been punched out,” Walsh said.

Following the controversial calls, two consecutive walks and a hit batsman gave the Eagles the 2-1 lead. An RBI groundout by Mike Sudol and a double by Garret Smith pushed the margin to 5-1 and chased Ferreira.

Zapenas capped the inning with another single through the infield against junior Dan Berardo, putting the Crimson back on its heels.

Still, Harvard would not fold, despite yielding two more runs in the seventh. After a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, sophomore Brent Suter grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring O’Hara. Junior Sam Franklin then notched a two-out RBI single to right field, which quickly netted a second run on John Spatola’s throwing error.

BC answered right back in the bottom of the frame—plating a pair of runs on a walk and back-to-back doubles—and at 10-4 the game seemed well in hand. But after Aoki opted to let reliever Matt Brazis try to finish the game, the Crimson had other ideas.

Junior Dillon O’Neill walked to open the ninth, but two quick outs seemed to neutralize any threat. Sophomore cleanup hitter Marcus Way promptly belted a double to the center-field wall, though, and singles from sophomore Jeff Reynolds and Albright pulled Harvard within four. After Suter walked to load the bases, Franklin came through again, punching an RBI single to right field. After a Rouches walk forced in Albright, Suter scored on a wild pitch from reliever Dave Laufer, bringing the score to 10-9.

But despite tallying five runs with two outs, the Crimson’s rally came up just short. Larrow fell behind in the count 1-2 and, after fighting off a fastball, swung through an offspeed pitch to end the game. Still, Walsh found it difficult to be disappointed.

“It showed a lot of guts from our team coming back,” Walsh said. “And Ferreira let it all hang out today. To me, it was a pitcher’s duel, and it felt pretty good even though we…gave up 10 runs. It was a strange day—typical Beanpot game.”

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