Baseball Team Struggles on Texas Roadtrip

After playing three games over the weekend, the Harvard baseball team received no break and took to the diamond in Texas for four games in just three days.

The Crimson (1-13) failed to pick up a victory on the second leg of its trip, falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a one-run game, twice to McNeese St., and finally to Houston.

“[These are] tough teams, but we have to play better,” said sophomore third baseman Nick Saathoff. “We’re a better team than we’ve been playing. It’s tough right now, but I think we’re going to be alright.”

HOUSTON 8, HARVARD 1

Although Harvard pushed across the first run of the game, the Crimson ultimately fell, 8-1, to the Cougars (18-4) on Wednesday night.

Houston only had three more hits than Harvard, but the Cougars strung their knocks together and came through with runners in scoring position. Houston center fielder Ashford Fulmer went three-for-four with a pair of triples.

The Crimson struck first in its initial at-bats when freshman catcher Dj Link drew a bases loaded walk that plated freshman second baseman Mitch Klug, who had singled earlier. Klug later registered a double in the seventh for his second hit on the night.

But the Cougars responded by scoring six runs in three innings to take a five-run lead after four frames. The Harvard offense could not push any more runs across the board, and two more in the bottom of the seventh sealed the 8-1 victory for Houston.

“We just have to execute,” Saathoff said. “Our coaches preach it all the time about getting runners over and getting them in. We’re just not doing it; we have to be tougher and more aggressive with two strikes.”

MCNEESE STATE 11, HARVARD 0

Despite playing solid baseball for much of the rubber game of the doubleheader, the Crimson could not handle the Cowboys (12-8) offense in the middle innings and fell in an 11-0 defeat.

McNeese St. scored three in the fourth, five in the fifth, and two in the sixth to put the contest firmly out of reach. The scoring in the fifth frame was keyed by a pair of doubles that brought in all five runs.

A trio of McNeese pitchers held the Harvard offense to four hits. Cowboys starter Jason Gibson made it into the seventh inning to earn the win, and the two relievers each allowed only one hit in closing out the game.

Hitless in his last five games following a five-game hitting streak to begin the season, Link notched a pair of singles to lead the Crimson offense.

Harvard used four pitchers in the defeat. Junior Baron Davis was credited with the loss in his four innings of work. Freshman Shaun Rubin provided a bright spot with two innings of one-hit, shutout work.

“I’m obviously not complacent with where we are right now, but I’m very proud with the strides people have been making,” sophomore outfielder Brandon Kregel said. “Freshmen have to act as if they’ve always been here. They’re on a really quick learning curve because we can’t afford for them to develop slowly.”

MCNEESE STATE 10, HARVARD 0

Although the Cowboys only outhit the Crimson by five in the first-ever game between the two teams, the McNeese St. bats came through when it mattered most en route to a 10-0 shutout in a seven inning contest.

The big blows came in the form of two four-run innings in the first and the fifth. After the first three batters of the game reached base, junior Taylor Drake drove an offering from senior pitcher Matt Doyle over the left field wall for a grand slam.

Four innings later, a triple from junior Matt Williams brought in three more. After Harvard coach Bill Decker replaced Doyle with senior Jordan Haviland, a Cowboys single plated the fourth run of the frame.

Crimson pitchers had trouble retiring the middle of the McNeese St. order all day, as the number two through five hitters accounted for nine of their 12 hits.

Kregel paced the Harvard offense, going three-for-four against the Cowboys pitching. Junior outfielder Jeff Hajdin also posted two hits on the game.

McNeese senior Trey McGee picked up the win with five innings of five-hit ball, while Doyle was credited with the loss.

TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 7, HARVARD 6

The Crimson started off strong and built a five-run lead in search of its first win since the start of the season. But Harvard could not withstand an Islanders (11-9) rally in the middle innings and ultimately fell in a close one, 7-6.

The Crimson offense had its most successful day of the year, amassing season highs of seven runs and 14 hits, thanks in large part to standout performances from three individuals.

Junior shortstop Carlton Bailey went a sparkling five-for-five in the leadoff spot, and sophomore pitcher Tanner Anderson registered a single in each of his four at-bats. Freshman third baseman Mitch Klug also totaled three hits in what were career highs for each player.

Harvard got off to a good start by scoring two runs in the second inning off RBI singles from Anderson and Bailey.

Things looked bright for Harvard when Anderson made it through four innings without allowing a run. In the top of the fifth, the Crimson loaded the bases with no outs and tacked on three additional runs

But the tide turned swiftly in the next two frames, as the A&M-Corpus Christi offense let looses for seven runs in the fifth and the sixth, with the big blow coming in the form of a grand slam from senior outfielder Eric Weiss over the right field fence.

“We put the ball in play, and we were able to string hits together to manufacture runs,” Kregel said. “We gained a lot of momentum early in the game, but a couple small things caused us to lose the momentum, and Corpus Christi really took advantage of that.”

After Anderson exited with Harvard down two, sophomore pitcher Matt Timoney entered and kept the Crimson in the game by holding the Islanders scoreless for the entirety of the contest.

Although the Crimson scratched across a run in the eighth, the team could not get anything going in the ninth and fell by one.

— Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at dsteinbach@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @BigBach12.