Baseball Offense Struggles in Pair of Losses to League Leader Brown

Had the Harvard baseball team managed to take home at least one weekend victory, it would have given itself a shot at tying Brown for first place in the Rolfe Divison. But yesterday was a day for the status quo, as the Bears (11-20, 8-2 Ivy League) took both games, 7-1 and 10-3, in the first of two doubleheaders at O’Donnell Field. The next slate of games will take place today.

“Obviously, we didn’t play well enough to win either game,” Crimson coach Joe Walsh said.

BROWN 7, HARVARD 1

The team with the Ivy’s worst ERA didn’t look so bad against the Crimson (11-20, 4-6), shutting out the hosts until the penultimate inning.

“Pitching-wise, I thought we did very well,” Bears coach Marek Drabinski said. “I thought our second starter, Will Weidig, pitched very well.”

Weidig silenced Harvard batters early, allowing only one hit—a Jeff Reynolds single—in the first four innings.

Though the senior registered just one strikeout in that span, his teammates were able to catch or throw out any potential threat.

“I thought our first baseman [Cody Slaughter] was spectacular with the plays he made,” Drabinski said.

A walk for sophomore Marcus Way in the second inning marked the only other time a Harvard player reached base in those first four.

“In tough conditions they played well defensively,” Walsh said. “Usually the weather can be a factor, but it wasn’t for them. I was impressed by their defense.”

Harvard’s futile at-bats allowed Weidig to outduel sophomore Conner Hulse, who allowed four runs—three earned—in 6.1 innings on the mound.

“Conner went out there and battled all day,” Walsh said. “We haven’t scored too many runs for him...which is disappointing.”

But thanks to Hulse’s pitching and the Crimson defense’s solid, if not spectacular, performance, Harvard found itself down by only three runs in the sixth inning. With junior shortstop Sean O’Hara on base and Albright at the plate with two outs, the Crimson seemed to have a chance to change its fate.

Perhaps looking to take fate into his own hands, O’Hara, who had just walked for his third time of the day, went for the steal. But when the Bears were able to make the play, Albright was left at home plate, where he would soon reappear in catcher’s gear.

One inning and two runs later, the junior captain got another chance on offense.

This time, Albright was not left with the bat on his shoulder, notching a base hit to center field. When sophomore Marcus Way followed with a single of his own and junior Sam Franklin was hit by a pitch, Harvard found itself with the bases loaded and just one out.

Junior Andrew Bakowski then walked junior Dillon O’Neill, sending Albright home to put the Crimson on the board. But Backowski quickly silenced the rally, striking out freshman Dan Moskovitz and senior Chris Rouches.

“A key moment in the second game was bases loaded [in the seventh inning]...and to limit them to one run I thought was huge,” Drabinski said.

From then on, the Bears rolled through two easy innings, putting two more runs on the board in the top of the ninth before heading to the bus with a record two games better. The squad returns to Cambridge tomorrow to complete the four-game set.

BROWN 10, HARVARD 3

Rain is the enemy of any baseball fan, but for the Crimson, a rain delay in the middle of the fourth inning allowed it the chance to regroup and get runs on the board.

Early in the day’s first contest, it seemed to be a duel on the mound, as both Harvard junior Eric Eadington and the Bears’ freshman pitcher Kyle Carlow were silencing their opposing batters, opening the game with two scoreless innings.

But Eadington started to hurt in the third inning, leading to an injury timeout. The pitcher struggled to regain his form, yielding three Brown runs in the frame.

After the Crimson was unable to respond in the bottom of the inning, the Bears put one more on the board in the top of the fourth to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

And then the rain came, forcing Harvard to cover up the pitching mound and fans of both teams to head for cover.

When the weather cleared up enough to allow play to resume, a different Crimson offense stepped up to the plate.

O’Hara, who walked in the first inning, got one of his few chances all day to use his bat. The shortstop didn’t waste it, sending the ball deep into center field for a triple.

Way was next on base—walking after reaching a full count—before Albright sent O’Hara home on a double to right field. Franklin grounded out to first on the next play, but he gave Way enough time to reach home.

And then it was Albright’s turn to score his first of two runs on the day. The catcher took advantage of a wild pitch, racing home before his Brown counterpart had a chance to turn around and tag him.

But when Rouches struck out swinging, the Bears headed back to the plate and wasted little time neutralizing Harvard’s hitting with a three-run inning of their own.

This time, the Crimson wasn’t able to respond, as Brown allowed no runs for the rest of the game and put up another three-run inning in the seventh.

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.