Crimson Hitters Ready For Brown

When Harvard and Brown faced off in their annual four-game series last season, both baseball clubs had a 7-3 league record and hopes for an Ivy League championship.

What a difference a year makes.

This season, the Crimson (4-26, 3-9 Ivy) and the Bears (14-18, 5-7) will take the diamond as the bottom feeders in the Rolfe Division. Yale sits two-and-a-half games ahead of Brown and Dartmouth leads the division with a 10-2 Ivy record.

“Usually there is a lot lying on this [series with Brown],” Harvard coach Joe Walsh said. “It’s a different feeling; usually you’re looking down [at the other clubs]. What’s riding on this is respect and knowing we can beat some good teams in the league.”

For the Crimson to earn a spot in the Ancient Eight title game, the Bulldogs must take at least three from the Big Green this weekend and the Bears must sweep Yale next week. Harvard must also win its eight remaining contests.

“We go into every weekend and every game thinking we should win every time,” senior Shawn Haviland said. “Our backs are against the wall. Anything other than four wins [against Brown] would be disappointing.”

Considering the squad has a slim chance of accomplishing its goal of winning the Ivy League, it is a bit ironic that the Crimson has finally found its stride. In the last four contests, Harvard has scored an average of 8.25 runs per game.

The team, however, dropped two of those games—one loss came from a walk-off homer against the Bulldogs and the other from a walk-off infield single against Northeastern.

“The thing that’s really keeping me going is the attitude of the kids,” Walsh said. “They’re handling these one-run loses and playing with a lot of enthusiasm the next day. I give [Matt] Vance a lot of credit for keeping things together.”

A major reason for the Crimson’s struggles early in the season was a lack offensive production. Harvard scored an average of just 1.89 runs per contest in the first nine Ivy league games and the Crimson remains last in the Ivies with a .235 team batting average.

The bats have come alive over the past four games, as production has increased up and down the order.

One veteran, Vance, has come out his midseason slump by hitting .417 with a .611 on-base percentage in the last four games. Senior Matt Kramer has also become a force and has batted .375, blasted two long balls, and driven in six runs since the first game of the Yale series last Saturday.

Freshmen are beginning to emerge as well. In the last four games, leadoff hitter Dillon O’Neill and third baseman Sean O’Hara have hit .471 and catcher Tyler Albright has batted .467. The rookie trio also drove in a combined eight run in thoseontests.

“The jump from high school baseball to college baseball is bigger than a lot of people realize,” Haviland said. “They’ve all made adjustments and are putting the ball in play hard and good things are starting to happen.”

Harvard will need to keep mashing if it wants to keep pace with Brown, which has been the best hitting team in the Ivy League this season. Six players are batting above .300 and seven Bears have more RBI than the Crimson’s leading run-producer, Vance, who has 15 RBI. Harvard hurlers will have to find a way to contain Brown for the Crimson to have a chance.

“They can swing it, but the key is to mix speeds,” Haviland said. “They’re a good fastball hitting team.”

The Bears’ power starts with junior Matt Nuzzo, a first team All-Ivy performer in 2007. Before Brown’s game on Wednesday, the shortstop led the squad with four home runs and 29 RBI. Senior J.J. Eno, who has a .315 average and is second on the team with three dingers and 24 RBI, is also a major factor. Freshman catcher Matt Colantonio leads the club with a .396 average.

“I recognize that they got a pretty good hitting lineup, but when you’re losing, you don’t look at stats,” Walsh said. “All I’m worrying about is how well we play.”

The Crimson will throw sophomore Dan Zailskas and seniors Max Warren, Shawn Haviland, and Brad Unger out on the mound this weekend. Zailskas will pitch Saturday, but the second starter for that day has not been chosen.

“It’s definitely different than any other year that I’ve been here,” Haviland said. “At the same time, the intensity will be there because no one is eliminated yet.”

—Staff writer Jake I. Fisher can be reached at jifisher@fas.harvard.edu.