Baseball Takes First Sweep of Season over Brown

The Harvard baseball team picked up two victories over Ivy League rival Brown on Friday at O’Donnell Field, downing the Bears, 7-4 and 4-2.

With its fifth and sixth league wins, the Crimson snapped a two-game losing streak and moved into second place behind Dartmouth in the Red Rolfe Division of the Ivy League.

“We came in, knew we had to sweep, and took care of business,” sophomore captain Andrew Ferreira said. “It feels pretty good, especially because it was our first sweep of the year.”

HARVARD 4, BROWN 2

For Harvard, a late spark from the bench was enough to beat the Bears in the second game of the doubleheader.

In the first pitch of an eighth-inning at-bat, Crimson sophomore pinch hitter Carlton Bailey knocked a two-run ground rule double inning to break the 2-2 tie and pull Harvard (11-27, 7-9 Ivy) ahead of Brown (8-29, 5-11).

“I was hoping he would get one out to the outfield,” Walsh said. “I had no idea he would put one up the centerfield fence.”

In his only at-bat Saturday, Bailey, who has seen little playing time in his last four games as he recovers from a knee injury, gave Harvard a much-needed boost.

“He’s been clutch all year,” sophomore co-captain Andrew Ferreira said. “He came in and really stepped up for us. It was huge.”

Walsh explained that an Ivy League team traveling rule gave him some flexibility with lineup adjustments.

“It’s a nice advantage when Brown can dress only 20 guys and we have our team, so we were able to make some moves in both games,” Walsh said. “Getting some pinch hitters and pinch runners in helped us.”

The Bears scored first in a four-hit second inning, as sophomore infielder J.J. Franco grounded into a double play that advanced freshman outfielder Will Marcal home from third.

The Crimson answered in a two-run third inning, with junior second baseman Kyle Larrow and senior infielder Jeff Reynolds recording RBIs on singles to right field.

Brown tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning when sophomore catcher Wes Van Boom scored after his triple to left-center field. But thanks to solid defense and relief pitching, the Crimson held the Bears scoreless in the visitors’ final four at-bats, and a Harvard rally in the bottom of the eighth clinched the win.

Harvard senior starting pitcher Conner Hulse tallied six strikeouts and allowed two runs on seven hits and two errors in game two. In two innings of relief action, sophomore right-hander Baron Davis allowed no hits and no runs to earn the win.

Junior pitcher Zack Olson earned his fourth save of the season, recording two strikeouts in the top of a scoreless ninth.

Overall, Walsh was satisfied with his team’s play on Friday.

“When I’m able to mention a bunch of guys, then it’s a good team effort,” Walsh said. “We needed the two wins to stay alive in the Ivy League.”

HARVARD 7, BROWN 4 (7 inn.)

A three-run sixth broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Crimson its first victory of the day over Brown, 7-4.

Harvard struck in the first inning on sophomore shortstop Jake McGuiggan’s home run over the left field wall.

But the Bears scored four runs in two innings to take a 4-1 lead at the end of the third.

In the rally, senior infielder Graham Tyler singled to score Marcal. Tyler came home two at-bats later on sophomore outfielder Matt DeRenzi’s ground out, and junior infielder Cody Slaughter’s two-run homer to left-center capped Brown’s scoring run.

The Crimson overcame Brown’s four-run rally with six unanswered runs starting in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Sophomore outfielder Jack Colton’s single to left field scored McGuiggan, and freshman Ethan Ferreira drove sophomore Stephen Dill home from second.

Bears pitchers Anthony Galan and Taylor Wright walked a combined three batters in the bottom of the sixth inning before allowing three runs, as Reynolds hit a two-run double to right field and Dill was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Harvard defense, which committed only one error in game one, combined with a strong pitching effort to allow just one runner on base after Franco’s single down the right-field line in the top of the fifth inning.

Franco was picked off during the next at-bat, when senior pitcher Brent Suter fired the ball to first base and left the runner stranded between first and second.

Suter finished a complete game and improved his record to 2-5 on the season. The lefty allowed just six hits and struck out four of the 27 batters he faced in the contest.