Around the Water Cooler: Title Race Proves Elusive for Harvard

As the school year comes to a close, Ivy League sports are wrapping up as well. But for Harvard, the spring doesn’t look quite as cheery. Baseball’s out of the league title hunt, while both the men’s and women’s golf teams failed to win it all. Meanwhile, our counterpart in New Haven is doing quite well, capturing two Ivy titles this weekend. And if all goes well next weekend, Yale has a chance to be crowned the top dog in Ancient Eight baseball as well. We’ll tell you just what you need to know in this week’s version of Around the Water Cooler.

The Harvard baseball team will have to wait until at least 2012 to claim an Ivy League title.

After splitting last weekend’s four-game series against Yale at O’Donnell Field, the Crimson remained five back in the Red Rolfe Division standings. But with only four league contests left, Harvard is now mathematically eliminated from the title hunt.

The series had its bright spots for Harvard, though. Senior Max Perlman pitched a gem on Friday against the Bulldogs, going the distance and notching a season-high ten strikeouts to propel the Crimson to a 1-0 win. For the effort, Perlman was named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week. Two days after Perlman’s performance, Harvard plated 10 runs, the team’s third-highest total this year.

While this upcoming weekend’s games don’t mean much for the Crimson, they’re critical for the other teams in the Rolfe Division. More likely than not, the title will come down to Dartmouth and Yale, who are tied atop the standings. So, this weekend, in a four-game Harvard v. Dartmouth series, the Crimson will have the chance to end the Big Green’s reign atop the Ancient Eight.

In the Lou Gehrig Division, Princeton is securely at the top. Just one win this weekend over lowly Cornell would give the Tigers the berth into the Ivy League Championship Series.

Speaking of championships, both men’s and women’s golf had their Ivy League Championships this weekend. Yale continued its domination of spring sports, winning both events. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs coasted to an easy victory, winning by a whopping 20 strokes. It all came together for Yale on Sunday, when the champions shot +4, 14 strokes better than the next-best team.

On the women’s side, the Bulldogs only managed to best the second-place Crimson by four strokes. Harvard only trailed by two going into the final day but failed to keep pace with Yale. The Bulldogs continue their season May 5-7 in the NCAA East Regional.

In the world of men’s lacrosse, some solid play by senior attackman Dean Gibbons gave Harvard the chance to extend its season and qualify for the Ivy League Tournament. The senior scored three goals in last Saturday’s must-win contest against Princeton. Now, Harvard’s sitting pretty, as a victory over Yale this weekend would guarantee entrance into tournament