Harvard Baseball Swept by No. 7 Florida in Tough Road Matchup

The Harvard baseball team was swept this past weekend by Florida, who is ranked No. 7 in the nation following their strong non-conference start. The Crimson (0-9) scored just six runs in the three-game series while allowing 41 to the Gators (15-2), who picked up their third series sweep of the season.

Heading into its third of four straight non-conference weekends on the road, Harvard knew it was heading into tough competition in Gainesville. For the Crimson, playing Florida — a team that has made the College World Series in nine of the past 14 seasons — was a test to see how well it stacked up against the best in the country.

For a squad that has seven freshmen, these games help set the tone heading into Ivy play, which begins when Harvard plays Penn on March 22.

“Every week that we play these really good teams in the preseason, it’s a great opportunity for us to improve and elevate our level of play,” said senior captain George Cooper. “We definitely appreciate the coaches challenging us with this really, really ambitious preseason schedule.”

Harvard 0, Florida 12

In the opening game of the series on Friday night, Harvard was held scoreless for the first time all season. After a semi-slow start through three innings, Florida got hot, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and six in the fifth on their way to run-ruling Harvard 12-0.

Junior right-hander Callan Fang, last year’s Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, pitched his season debut for the Crimson, allowing just two runs in 2.2 innings off of RBI hits by the Gators’ Colby Shelton and Brody Donay.

The reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year picked up right where he left off, setting the tone for a Harvard pitching staff that prevented the Gators from hitting a home run for the first time this season. .

Pitching in his home state, freshman Charley Bergsma threw two strong innings, allowing just one run off of two hits in his third appearance this season.

Harvard 0, Florida 7

In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Florida shutout the Crimson yet again, allowing just two hits and one walk after six strong innings from the Gators’ Aidan King on their way to a 7-0 victory.

In a tough game for Harvard’s offense, there were still some quality showings from the pitching staff. Junior lefty Brian Dowling threw 2.2 solid innings of relief where he allowed three hits and just one earned run. This was Dowling’s third appearance of the season, and against a talented Florida lineup, he had perhaps his best game of the year.

Harvard 6, Florida 22

The third and final game of the series saw the first scoring action of the weekend for Harvard.

Senior first-baseman Peter Levin hit the first home run of his career, and freshman catcher Liam Wilson added two RBIs in a strong offensive performance from the Crimson.

After three and a half innings of play, Harvard was narrowly trailing the Gators 5-7. Going into the bottom of the fourth, Florida turned on the jets, scoring fifteen runs across the next three innings in a well-rounded performance.

Regardless of the outcome of these games, the Crimson remain excited to see how it will perform in Ivy League play moving forward.

“Well, we’re looking really good, and our pitching staff is deeper than we’ve had in the past years. We really do have guys that have been working really hard, guys that I’m proud to play defense behind,” said Cooper. “Our hitters are very well rounded, top to bottom, and I just think we’re looking really good.”

Looking ahead, Harvard will face Northeastern in Brookline next weekend in their last full non-conference series before starting Ivy play on the road against Penn in two weeks.

“I think these weeks were necessary,” added Cooper. “ The adversity is going to fuel us, and we’re all extremely excited to take it to the Ivy League.”