Baseball Drops High-Scoring Series to Yale

With windy conditions at O’Donnell Field carrying balls further than normal, the Harvard baseball team saw its four-game set with Ivy League-leading Yale over the weekend explode into a veritable hit parade. A relatively mild 4-2 opener on Saturday afternoon gave way to the two teams combining to score 75 runs over the last three games—wreaking havoc on ERAs but providing for lively offense on both sides.

The problem for the Crimson was that most of the offense went the Bulldogs’ way. Harvard ultimately dropped the series, three games to one, to move to 13-19 overall and 2-10 in the conference.

The silver lining came in the form of the Crimson’s 12-7 victory in the series closer, preventing the sweep and giving some much-needed momentum to the team heading into the Beanpot Championship on Wednesday.

“The wind was blowing out this weekend—it was beautiful, so definitely ideal hitting conditions for both sides,” sophomore first baseman Patrick McColl said. “It didn’t turn out well for us in a couple of the games, it definitely helped that we were able to add a couple runs on at the end and hang on.”

HARVARD 12, YALE 7

McColl led the way at the plate with a four-hit, three-run, two-RBI day, sophomore righty Kevin Stone pitched 8.0 innings with eight strikeouts, and Harvard ended its seven-game losing streak with a 12-7 win over Yale (19-4, 10-2 Ivy League).

“It was good for us to battle back and win that fourth game,” sophomore outfielder Ben Skinner, who was 3-for-5 in the Saturday closer, said. “It’s pretty easy to let yourself run out of steam when you have these long weekends, so it was encouraging for us to walk away with a win in the last one.”

The Crimson built yet another 5-0 advantage right out of the first inning, but unlike the previous game, it was able to pad its lead with a four-run fourth and tack on insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings to hold on to the victory.

“Insurance runs are extremely nice—they give our pitchers confidence, they help us keep our momentum rolling, and it’s just great to have that peace of mind,” Skinner said. “The way the ball was carrying this weekend, a lot of runs were being scored, so every run mattered.”

McColl, junior infielder John Fallon, and sophomore outfielder Patrick Robinson all went yard, with Fallon’s three-run blast coming as part of the five-run first inning.

Freshman righty Grant Stone’s scoreless ninth helped prevent the sweep after the Crimson lost the first three games. The elder Stone, meanwhile, garnered his team-leading fourth win for his efforts.

YALE 13, HARVARD 9

Saturday’s opener saw the Bulldogs successfully chip away at a 5-0 deficit after two innings, and the visiting Yale squad steadily pulled away for a 13-9 win. Though Harvard outhit the Bulldogs, 12 to nine, the home team was not efficient on defense, as it committed three errors leading to six unearned runs.

Sophomore Simon Rosenblum-Larson got the start and received the brunt of the defensive sloppiness. The righty pitched 5.2 solid innings of three-hit ball and was only responsible for three earned runs crossing the plate—but nine total runs were put up against his name.

The offense bailed their starter out with a four-run sixth, but a four-run outburst from the Bulldogs in the final inning broke the 9-9 tie and gave Yale the win.

McColl drove in a career-high five runs on 2-for-4 hitting, while freshman infielder Quinn Hoffman had himself a three-hit day with two runs scored.

YALE 21, HARVARD 13

Home runs seemingly flew out of the ballpark at will in the windy conditions in Yale’s 21-13 victory over the Crimson on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs hit five dingers, while Harvard one-upped them with six—including senior captain Josh Ellis’ second and third career homers—but it wasn’t enough to overcome Yale’s 21 hits.

Ellis went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs to cap off a three-homer, 5-for-9 day, continuing his hot streak as the season progresses. Robinson, meanwhile, drove in four more runs, upping his RBI total to 28 by the end of the weekend.

The Crimson offense managed to chase Yale starter Mason Kukowski after just 1.1 innings, while Harvard starter junior Ian Miller went 5.0 innings and took the loss.

YALE 4, HARVARD 2

The odd game out of the weekend was the tame opener, as both starting pitchers went the seven-inning distance and allowed single-digit hits. The Yale offense prevailed over Crimson starter junior Noah Zavolas, though, with two runs in the second and two more in the fifth to double up Harvard, 4-2.

Ellis’ first career homer and designated hitter junior Austin Black’s RBI single provided the Crimson’s only offense of the game.

“Moving on, you still try and win every game, you want to get better and keep up team morale,” McColl said. “At this point, if we can just kind of stay loose and have fun with it, that’s what we need, and I think we’ll be just fine moving forward.”

—Staff writer Bryan Hu can be reached at bryan.hu@thecrimson.com.