Baseball Struggles in First Home Game

The Harvard baseball team struggled in its home opener on a cold Wednesday afternoon, falling to Holy Cross by a 9-4 margin at O’Donnell Field.

The Crimson (3-14) came into the game riding its first set of back-to-back wins on the season, having beat Houston Baptist twice. The Crusaders (6-13) have been playing solid ball as of late, beating Yale in four straight games last weekend after starting the season poorly.

“We didn’t pitch well, we didn’t hit well, and we didn’t play well,” Harvard coach Bill Decker said. “The disappointing thing is that we didn’t play with the energy that we need to play with to win.”

Although Harvard went down big early, the team fought back in later innings. The Crimson looked as if it might be able to put itself back in the game in the seventh, but its efforts proved to be too little, too late.

Trailing 9-1 in the seventh frame, Harvard junior infielder Carlton Bailey notched a double that drove in sophomore infielder Nick Saathoff. After advancing to third on a groundout, Bailey scored on a double by sophomore outfielder Mike Martin. A triple from sophomore outfielder Brandon Kregel that went deep into right-center field would then drive in Martin to bring the Crimson within five runs.

But those were the last runs that the Crimson would score on the game.

“We just took a step back today,” Kregel said after the game. “The two games we played in Houston gave us momentum, but today we just couldn’t get it done.”

Junior pitcher Baron Davis started the game for Harvard. Davis, who earned the win in the Crimson’s 7-6 victory over Holy Cross last season, could not repeat the performance Wednesday and was tagged with a loss after three innings pitched.

“I personally didn’t perform well,” Davis said. “It was a tough game for our first home appearance.”

In addition to Davis, the Crimson sent six other pitchers to the mound.

The Crusaders struck the initial blow following a scoreless first inning. After a walk, a single, and a sacrifice bunt that put runners on second and third, Holy Cross freshman Nick Lovullo doubled deep into left field, driving in both runners and earning his team a 2-0 lead before Davis could finish off the side.

The Crimson responded quickly in the bottom of the inning. After two singles and a double play put Kregel on third, sophomore infielder Tanner Anderson laced a double into deep left-center, allowing Kregel to score.

In the top of the third, Holy Cross extended its lead on a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the frame, Holy Cross took out senior pitcher George Perrotta in favor of sophomore Jeremy Perron.

After hitting Bailey on his first pitch, Perrotta retired the side to end the third.

After a Holy Cross walk and single with no outs that extended the Crusaders’ lead to 4-1, Decker brought in junior pitcher Sam Dodge to relieve Davis. Dodge would give up three more runs before finishing off the fourth inning with his team trailing, 7-1.

“We didn’t have that much energy today,” Kregel said. “We just expected to make plays, expected to win, but we need to do more.”

After Harvard failed to put any runs on the board in the bottom of the inning, Dodge was replaced with sophomore pitcher Matt Timoney. Although he threw a wild pitch and hit a batter, Timoney only gave up one run in the fifth.

Following another scoreless inning for the Crimson, Timoney was relieved by junior pitcher Peter Kaplan, who retired three straight before being subbed for senior right-hander Jordan Haviland in the seventh. Haviland gave up one run after an error from the Harvard infield before finishing off the Crusader side.

It was then that the Crimson made its push to get back in the game, but the team ended up stranding Kregel on third to end the three-run seventh inning.

Freshmen pitchers Matt Sanders and Shaun Rubin threw in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, and neither allowed a run. But the damage was already done.

Harvard enters conference play with back-to-back double headers at Columbia and Penn this Saturday and Sunday.

“We have to play like we played [against Houston Baptist],” Decker said. “We have to attack the baseball and work hard to win going forward.”