Baseball Snaps Five-Game Losing Streak in Home Opener

The Harvard baseball team snapped its five-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over Holy Cross in its home opener Wednesday afternoon. Propelled by a trio of relievers and clutch situational hitting, the Crimson was able to rebound from a weekend in which it lost three games on walk-off singles.

It was Harvard’s first victory since its spring break trip to Florida, which ended by the Crimson winning five of six.

Sophomore Greg Coman got the start for Harvard (11-12, 0-4 Ivy). Typically a reliever, the lefty surrendered one run in his only inning of work as the Crusaders (10-15, 4-0 Patriot League) jumped out to a 1-0 lead. From then on, the Crimson bullpen was dominant, holding Holy Cross to just two runs on four hits.

“The biggest thing about midweek games is it’s a team game,” junior reliever T.J. Laurisch said.“Wednesday games, they go piece by piece, it’s kind of get it to the next guy. I think we did a great job today, we all found a way to piece it together.”

Freshman Ian Miller had his best performance as a member of Harvard baseball. The right-hander threw four and a third innings, at one point retiring 13 consecutive Crusaders. Miller’s only trouble came in the top of the sixth inning when he allowed two singles. Fellow first-year Dylan Combs finished the inning, allowing both inherited runners to score.

The Crimson defense was solid behind its pitchers following a weekend in which it committed ten errors. Harvard turned a 4-6-3 double play to get Combs out of trouble in the seventh.

Perhaps the play of the game came in the following inning. With Holy Cross runners on first and second and one out, the Crusaders were looking to cut into the 5-3 Crimson lead. Laurisch’s fourth pitch to Holy Cross centerfielder Evan Ocello was received by Harvard catcher DJ Link and gunned to third to throw out Bobby Indeglia, who was the lead runner in a Crusader double steal.

“That was huge,” Laurisch said. “That was definitely a pressure inning. They tried a double steal and all of a sudden, it’s two outs, just a guy on second. It makes it a lot easier on me. I think DJ did a great job and made a nice play. It really changed the momentum of that inning.”

Laurisch’s next pitch struck out Ocello and ended Holy Cross’s last chance of tying the game. In the final frame, the junior worked a 1-2-3 inning, one of five on the day for the Crimson pitching staff.

After being held scoreless for the first two innings, the Harvard offense mustered a two-out rally in the bottom of the third. Senior second baseman Jake McGuiggan singled, junior Mitch Klug walked, and co-captain Ethan Ferreira singled home his 17th RBI of the season to tie the game up at one.

The Crimson manufactured two more runs in a bizarre bottom half of the fourth inning. Freshman John Fallon, making his second consecutive start at shortstop, walked and advanced to second and then third on two separate wild pitches by Holy Cross starter Phil Reese. Junior Matt Sanders drove in Fallon and a Mike Martin walk, Jake McGuiggan fielder’s choice, and Crusaders error gave Harvard a 3-1 lead.

The Crimson tacked on two more runs in the fifth on consecutive sacrifice flies by Fallon and sophomore first baseman Matt Hink. Despite only registering seven hits on the day, Harvard was active on the base paths, swiping seven bags, including two apiece by seniors Martin and designated hitter Tanner Anderson.

“Today was nice, it was a good bounce back win for us after the weekend,” McGuiggan said. “Offensively, it was nice to get those clutch hits and get into somewhat of a rhythm going into the weekend. It was nice to see those guys come out of the pen and pitch really well.”

It was the bullpen that was the story of the day. Miller picked up a much-deserved win, the first of his collegiate career, and Laurisch was credited with his second save of the year.

“Ian’s got some innings under his belt,” coach Bill Decker said. “I thought he went out there today and provided this team exactly what they needed. He gave us a shot of adrenaline, kept us in the ballgame, you can’t say enough about him. He did a great job patching in and same thing with Dylan Combs. And T.J. Laurisch is who he is. We can count on T.J.”