Crimson Drilled By Holy Cross, 14-1

Harvard baseball had a good thing going, but as the rain stopped, so did the team’s three-game winning streak.

Playing in a game that was originally scheduled for Wednesday night, but was delayed due to weather and poor field conditions, the Crimson (6-12) lost in a blowout, 14-1, to Holy Cross (9-8) in Worcester, Mass., last night.

“It was a tough loss, and we never like losing like that,” captain Tyler Albright said. “It’s just frustrating.”

Harvard’s offense struggled for most of the night, kept hitless until the top of the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, the Crusaders’ batters went through a total of eight Crimson pitchers on their way to the team’s fifth win in a row.

“As far as pitching goes, we really wanted to get some guys out there and get them some experience,” Albright said. “It’s just unfortunate that we weren’t able to put all of the pieces together.”

Harvard’s pitchers ran into trouble throughout the game by getting behind in the count. It started early with senior Jonathan Strangio walking the Holy Cross lineup’s first three batters.

The Crusaders’ cleanup hitter, junior Nick Ciardiello, came to the plate and knocked a double to right center, scoring all three base runners.

Ciardiello’s bat had been a major factor in Holy Cross’ recent wins and made an appreciable impact last night with three hits and four RBI. When he scored a run of his own later in the inning, Ciariello put his team up 4-0, still with no outs in the bottom of the first.

Junior Zach Hofeld then came to the mound for the Crimson and was able to strike out one batter before the end of the frame.

Harvard’s offensive drought lasted through the next few innings, while the Crusaders continued to build up their lead, scoring two more runs off a double by senior Brendan McCrea in the bottom of the third.

“[Holy Cross] is a good ball club, and they could really swing the bats,” sophomore Jeff Reynolds said.

The Crimson finally got in on the action when Reynolds hit a line-drive double to center field in the top of the fifth.

But after advancing to third on a wild pitch by the Crusaders’ John Colella, Reynolds was left stranded.

Holy Cross knocked down Harvard’s hopes even further in the sixth inning when, despite Crimson freshmen Robert Wineski and Zach Olson’s efforts on the mound, the Crusaders put together one homer, nine hits, and seven more runs.

“They were just having to throw way too many pitches,” Albright said of Harvard’s rookie hurlers.

The Crimson brought in a batch of new players in the bottom of seventh, including another freshman pitcher, Matt Doyle, but Holy Cross managed to get one more run, bringing the score to 14-0.

In the game’s last frame, a pair of doubles by freshman Danny Moskovits and junior Cole Arledge gave Harvard its first run of the night. A wild pitch, a walk, and a catcher’s interference call loaded the bases, but the rest of the Crimson offense couldn’t capitalize, leaving Arledge and sophomores Jon Smart and J.T. Tomes on base.

Though the loss was Harvard’s most lopsided of the season, the team will maintain a positive attitude going into its next two games this Saturday.

“We’re very confident that we can take Princeton,” Albright said.

The doubleheader will be the Crimson’s first chance to take on a conference opponent and establish itself as a serious threat in the Ivy League.

“Hopefully we can win a bunch of [conference] games, get a championship and head to a regional,” Reynolds said. “That’s still the goal, and that goal’s still very attainable.”

—Staff writer Madeleine Smith can be reached at smith21@college.harvard.edu.