Baseball Tops Holy Cross With Four in Eighth

The trip from Boston to Cambridge is a quick one. Just a hop across the Charles River and you're home.

After dropping both ends of a double header Tuesday at Boston Collage were, as one player best summed up, "a whole lot to a whole little," the Harvard baseball team couldn't make the trip fast enough. HOLY CROSS  3 HARVARD  6

Back on the secure territory of O'Donnell Field, the Crimson (13-12, 6-2 Ivy) found its bearings and the time-tested formula for baseball success--strong pitching and timely hitting.

Senior second baseman Peter Woodfork delivered the clutch hit, a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth to put Harvard ahead of the Crusaders (10-12, 6-2 Patriot), 4-3 on its way to a 6-3 win.

"Woodfork has been Mr. Clutch all year for us," Harvard Coach Joe Walsh said. "If you get good pitching and the hitters come through, you win close ballgames."

Captain Hal Carey started the rally with the Crimson trailing 3-2 in the eighth by drawing a one-out walk from reliever Ryan Kenny (0-2). Freshman shortstop Mark Mager followed with a single through the right side of the infield to bring up Woodfork.

After battling, Kenny finally offered Woodfork a good pitch, which he drove into the right-field gap, where it landed just to the right of the 370' sign, scoring two. Woodfork finished the day 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI.

"I was out there just feeling for a pitch I could put in the outfield," Woodfork said. "It's nice to get one through."

The rally continued as senior center fielder Andrew Huling followed with a single, on which Woodork was nailed at the plate tying to score. Senior catcher Jason Keck then reached first as Holy Cross center fielder Anthony Pecora dropped a line drive. Huling scored on the error, the Crusaders' third of the day.

Junior left fielder Jeff Bridich then scored Keck with a triple to the right-center field gap as the Crimson batted around in its excellent eighth.

"We've been struggling at the plate this year," Walsh said. "We finally got the guy on base and the clutch hit."

Harvard needed the runs after sophomore pitcher Dan Saken ran out of gas in the sixth inning. Saken exhibited good control with his fastball and breaking stuff to keep Holy Cross at bay, working 5.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits.

But junior Jeff Millar signaled the start of something different, cranking a knee-high fastball well over the right field-fence to tie the score at 2-2. With two outs, the scrappy Crusaders literally stole their third run.

With runners on first and third, second baseman Matt Reiland attempted to steal second, slowing halfway. As soon as Keck threw to the bag, right fielder Patrick McKeon darted for home, beating the bullet back to the plate for a 3-2 lead.

"Before that inning, I had done a good job keeping the ball down," Saken said. "In the sixth, I got it up."

Right before the double steal, Walsh had replaced Saken with junior Derek Lennon. Lennon induced catcher Mike Kardas to take strike three to end the inning.

"Saken came through for us today," Walsh said. "We needed him to give us six innings and he did that, throwing very well in his second start."

After Saken left, the Crimson's bullpen was untouchable. Lennon worked an additional two innings and allowed just two base runners, while striking out three.

Senior Garett Vail, usually the first man in the Crimson rotation entered the ninth inning throwing smoke. He blew a fastball by Kardas and froze O'Keefe on a breaking ball for the first two outs. Woodfork made a leaping catch of a line drive to end the ballgame.

Vail earned the first save for any Crimson pitcher this season.

"Vail looked real today," Walsh said. "There's no question he's moved into the upper echelon of players."

The Crimson jumped on the board early, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Carey led off the frame with a single and Woodfork's single moved him to third.

Huling hit a long sacrifice fly down the left-field line, which required a diving catch by pat O'Keefe to keep Huling from taking extra bases. Keck's double knocked in the other Harvard run.

The only slight downer for the Crimson was its defense, which committed three errors. One of them, a deep fly ball which Bridich dropped, put the Crusaders' first run on base in the fifth.

Bridich had an excuse, though. A catcher by trade, Walsh put him in left field to add some pop to the lineup.

The Crimson has no rest, however. It returns to action today, hosting Providence in a rescheduled game. The Friars (31-10) are the No. 1 team in New England.

Junior Mike Giampaolo is expected to start for Harvard.

HARVARD, 6-3 at o' Donnell Field   T  H  E HolyCross  000  012  000  --  36  3 Harvard200  000  04X  --  6  9   3 HOLYCROSS  AB  R  H  BI  BB   SO Pecora cf  3  0  0  0  1  0 Yacavone  4  0  0  0  0  0 Miller ss  4  1  1  1  0  0 Power 1b  4  0  0  0  0  1 Czajka dh  4  0  1  0  0  0 McKeon rf  4  1  2  0  0  1 Reland 2b  4  1  1  0  0  1 Kardas c  4  0  1  0  0  2 O'Keefe  3  0  0  1  1  1 TOTALS  34  3  6  2  2  6 HARVARD  AB  R  H  BI  BB  SO Carey 3b  3  2  1  0  1  0 Mager ss  4  1  2  0  0  0 Woodfork 2b  4  1  2  2  0  1 Huling cf  3  1  1  1  0  0 Keck c  3  1  1  1  1  0 Bridich If  3  0  1  1  0  0 Binkowski 1b  3  0  0  0  1  0 San Salvador dh  4  0  1  0  0  0 Portman rf  2  0  0  0  0  0 Larocque ph  1  0  0  0  0  1 O'Donnell rf  0  0  0  0  0  0 TOTALS  30  6  9  5  3  2 E: Pecora, Power 2, Carey, Mager, Bridich. LOB: Holy Cross 7, Harvard 5. 2B: McKeon, Woodfork, Keck. 3B: Bridich. HR: Miller. SB: McKeon, Reiland, Carey, Mager. CS: San Salvador. HOLY CROSS  IP  H  R  ER  BB  SO Quinn  6.0  5  2  2  0  1 Chapman  1.0  0  0  0  1  0 Kenny, L (0-2)  0.2  4  4  2  2  1 Kerns  0.1  0  0  0  0  0 HARVARD  IP  H  R  ER  BB  SO Saken  5.2  5  3  2  1  1 Lennon, W (2-1)  2.11  0  0  1  3 Vail, S (1)  1.0  0  0  0  0  2