Baseball Ends Non-Conference Play with Win over UMass

As the end of the season looms, the Harvard men’s baseball team (16-21, 8-8 Ivy) is hitting its stride. The Crimson won for the seventh time in nine games Tuesday at LeLacheur Park, defeating UMass Lowell (17-20), 9-4, in its final nonconference game of the season. After dropping eight of 10 earlier in the month, including the first four conference contests of the season, Harvard has gone 9-6.

“I thought we played a pretty good game,” sophomore pitcher TJ Laurisch said.

The Crimson did not leave the outcome in doubt in its first game against the River Hawks in program history. The team immediately took control, jumping out to a 5-1 lead after two frames to stake starter Shaun Rubin to an early lead. UMass Lowell starting pitcher Ricky Constant had problems from the first batter; giving up a double to junior catcher Josh Ellis to start the game. Back-to-back singles from sophomore infielder Matt Rothenberg and freshman firstbaseman Patrick McColl drove home Ellis to put the Crimson on the board, before Constant got two strikeouts to end the first.

The two strikeouts did not settle Constant down, however. The freshman walked consecutive batters to start the top of the second. After Ellis laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position, consecutive passed balls scored a pair of runs. After senior infielder Mitch Klug drew a walk, Rothenberg cleared the bases with a triple to left center and then scored on another passed ball to push the lead to 5-0.

UMass Lowell would get no closer than three runs the rest of the way as the Crimson tacked on two more runs in both the fourth and the ninth to prevent UMass Lowell from closing the gap. The River Hawks had just one run on four hits by the end of the second inning, and just three runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh.

“I think [Constant] was a little erratic early on,” Rothenberg said. “We took some walks early on to get some guys in scoring position, bunted some guys over… Some guys got the big hit when we needed one.”

Constant would give up one more run in the second—on another Rothenberg double—before leaving the game. For the game, Rothenberg finished a home run short of the cycle, notching three hits for only the fourth time this season and the first time since a 5-2 win over Yale on April 17.

“I got a few good pitches to hit and just ran into a few balls, which is always great,” Rothenberg said. “It was just a good day.”

Freshman outfielder Ben Skinner, who was former Ivy League Rookie of the Week, and junior infielder Drew Reid, and senior center DJ Link also tallied base hits to help the Crimson offense.

When Harvard took the field, it used an unusual pitching strategy. Rubin, who gave up just two hits and one run through two innings, was pulled with his team up 5-1 in the bottom of the third. The left-hander, who had not allowed a run since the first game of the season, frequently pitches in middle relief for the Crimson. He had thrown more than two innings in just three of eight appearances earlier this year. Wednesday was Rubin’s first start of the year.

After Rubin came out, Harvard coach Bill Decker reached deep into his bullpen, using five different pitchers to hold the River Hawks to just three runs over the next seven innings.

Four of the five pitchers that took the mound—including two seniors and sophomore Dylan Combs, who earned the win for pitching a scoreless fourth and fifth frames—did not give up a single run, with sophomore Noah Zavolas being the only one to encounter trouble, giving up three runs in the seventh inning. Zavolas, whose ERA rose to 7.11 after the game, had two consecutive scoreless appearances in relief before Wednesday’s game.

After the game, the Harvard players deferred to the skipper on the rationale behind playing so many pitchers.

“Coach had a plan with certain pitchers he wanted to get in,” Rothenberg said. “It was time to get fresh pitchers in.”

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com.