Weekend Wins Would Work Wonders

When, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy said, "there's no place like home," you can be sure the Harvard baseball team knew exactly how she felt.

After starting the season with 20 consecutive games on the road, the Crimson is anxious to return to the friendly confines of O'Donnell field for its home opener this Saturday.

"The team is all really excited about the home opener," sophomore pitcher Ben Crockett said. "It's tough to be on the road so long before you get a chance to play at home, but it's the same for most teams in the northeast."

Sweeping Cornell in two games and splitting a doubleheader with Princeton last weekend, Harvard (8-12, 3-1 Ivy) is set to host Columbia (6-19, 3-1 Ivy) in a doubleheader tomorrow.

Following the pair with the Lions, the Crimson host Penn (11-10, 3-1 Ivy) for a deuce on Sunday.

The weekend is shaping up as a classic battle between bruising bats and precise pitching.

"The cliche is good pitching beats good hitting," Crockett said. "I guess we'll see how true that is this weekend. We've faced some good-hitting teams in Florida and UCLA. Anything can happen, but I think it's looking good for us."

With a combined ERA of 4.87, the Crimson boasts the best bullpen in the league, led by Crockett and junior John Birtwell.

Crockett improved his career Ivy record to 5-0 last Sunday with a 6-3 victory over Princeton.

Allowing just one earned run, Crockett struckout eight and walked only one batter in nine innings of work.

Crockett was a near perfect 5-1 last season with a 4.88 ERA to accompany 47 strikeouts and six walks.

Birtwell was even better.

The defending Ivy League Pitcher of the Year posted a 2.83 ERA with 69 strikeouts and 10 walks in 63 innings pitched last season.

Birtwell earned a save last Saturday against Cornell, but missed his scheduled start on Sunday versus Princeton with soreness in his right shoulder.

Despite the tenderness in his pitching arm, Birtwell is expected to be available this weekend.

"I believe he'll be available in some capacity, whether starting or in relief out of the bullpen," Crockett said. "He threw today, and it seemed as though he was feeling pretty good after."

Crockett, Birtwell, and the rest of the Crimson pitching staff will have all they can handle, however, against Columbia and Penn.

"It's pretty important for us to come away with a sweep this weekend," Crockett said. "Both Columbia and Penn have 3-1 records and it's an important chance for us to gain ground on them and Dartmouth, who's also playing well."

Columbia swept Yale and split the double-header with Brown last weekend, led by the hot bat of junior first baseman Pete Aswad.

Earning Ivy Player of the Week honors, Aswad was 10-for-19 from the plate with 12 RBI, four homeruns, and a pair of doubles in four games.

Aswad, already a two-time Ivy Player of the Week this year, combines power and speed, leading the league in both homeruns (7) and stolen bases (59).

After facing the Lions on Saturday, the Crimson pitching staff won't have time to rest before Penn brings its league-leading .315 batting average to O'Donnell field.

Topping the Quaker bats with a .391 batting average through 19 games is junior first baseman Chris May.

Just as hot as May recently, catcher Jeff Gregorer was 4-for-8 from the plate last weekend against Yale with four RBI.

In the four-games against Yale and Brown, Penn outscored its opponents by a combined tally of 25-10.

The strong defensive performance was led by a pair of freshman, pitchers Ben Otero and Ben Krantz.

The two pitched a combined 16 innings, allowing just two earned runs.

Krantz pitched a complete-game two-hitter against Yale, allowing no earned runs and tallying nine strikeouts to collect his first collegiate win.

The Crimson, however, have enough offensive weapons to take Krantz and Otero down a notch.

Sophomore catcher Brian Lentz is the reigning Ivy Rookie of the Week after batting 9-for-17 with a pair of triples.

In four games, Lentz collected six RBI with an impressive .765 slugging percentage.

The Crimson will also need all the help it can get from co-captain Erik Binkowski.

One of five returning starters, Binkowski hit .313 with 31 RBI and five homeruns last season.

"A strong performance this weekend would be a really great confidence builder," Crockett said. "We've had some tough outings this season where things haven't fallen our way. But we're a young team and things are only going to get better as the season goes on."

In recent action, the Crimson rebounded from a 5-1 deficit with a four-run ninth inning, capped by junior outfielder Scott Carmack's three-run homer before eventually losing to Rhode Island in eleven innings Wednesday.