Cornell Offense Potent as Baseball Splits Again

Easter Sunday brought a plethora of offensive production to Ithaca, N.Y., as Harvard and Cornell (6-9, 2-2 Ivy) split a pair of games. In the first, the Crimson was the kid at the egg hunt with all the candy, but the Big Red bounced back in the nightcap, as Harvard (8-14, 2-2) found itself with a nearly-empty basket.

CORNELL 11, HARVARD 2

When pitcher Max Perlman envisioned his first game back, it likely included a scoreless first inning, which the junior was able to engineer.

But Perlman probably didn’t imagine that the scoreless first would be his only inning on the mound in a nine-run loss—although Crimson coach Joe Walsh noted that the one-inning limit was pre-planned.

Perlman’s replacement, junior Dan Berardo, didn’t have quite the same success as the injury-prone star.

“Cornell kind of got hot,” junior captain Tyler Albright said.

Had the Crimson been able to match its offensive productive from the first game, it would have been able to pull off a one-run win.

Unfortunately for Harvard, its bats cooled down just as the Big Red’s started to heat up.

Berardo appeared to be cruising, as the junior opened the bottom of the second with two quick outs, but Cornell racked up two singles and a walk before second baseman Matt Langseth plated the game’s first run with a single. Berardo then walked in a second run to stake the Crimson to a 2-0 deficit. With Big Red starter Tony Bertucci pitching lights-out, Harvard would never have a chance to climb back.

“They got ahead with the curveball,” sophomore pitcher Brent Suter said. “Their starter was pretty effective.”

After Berardo had struggled against Cornell’s starters, Walsh replaced him with sophomore Marcus Way and then rookie Andrew Ferreira. The freshman rallied for a solid finish, yielding two earned runs in 3.2 innings of relief.

“Ferreira finished the game,” Walsh said. “He played really well. We felt pretty good about his performance.”

But a few strong innings couldn’t make up for Harvard’s second-game struggles, as the Big Red crossed the plate twice in the fourth and four times in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

HARVARD 12, CORNELL 6

While it was a weekend to forget for some Crimson pitchers, it was a weekend to remember for freshman second baseman Kyle Larrow, who had 5 RBI in the morning contest—including a two-run homer and a triple.

It wasn’t a bad weekend for Suter, either. The sophomore pitcher was able to get the win against against a foreboding Big Red lineup.

“That was the best-hitting lineup that Cornell has had since I’ve been here,” Walsh said. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, they were impressive.”

The home team got the upper hand on Suter early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

“I had a bad error,” said Suter in reference to a wild throw on a bunt attempt.

But the sophomore pitcher hit his stride in the second.

“Suter really found his fastball,” Walsh said.

With Suter in control on the mound, Harvard’s batters took care of the rest. Larrow got things going for the Crimson with a two-run bomb in the second that sparked a five-run inning.

“He’s kind of a little guy,” Albright said. “He takes really quality at-bats. He’s a tough out.”

Larrow was far from the only Harvard player to be successful at the plate. Every hitter reached safely at least once, and the Crimson followed up its solid second frame with three runs in the third to take a commanding lead.

“We’ve always had [balance],” Albright said. “At the bottom of our lineup, we have attackers. There’s not a weak link in our lineup.”

And while the Big Red was able to string together hits late in the game—mounting a last-inning comeback with four runs in the seventh—it proved too little, too late against a solid Harvard showing.

“[Beating Cornell] means a lot,” Suter said. “They made it far last year...They could hit. They’re a good team.”

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