Harvard Hitters Can’t Find Groove in Losses

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Although Brown’s Spring Weekend filled the campus with excitement, the Harvard baseball team took no part in the merriment. The Crimson dropped both games in a critical Saturday twinbill against the Bears, vaulting the hosts out of a second-place tie with Harvard.

Trailing Dartmouth by three games entering the weekend, the Crimson was looking to make a statement at the expense of its Ancient Eight rival, but Brown asserted itself as the stronger team, claiming victories, 3-1 and 8-5.

“We just didn’t get it together today,” Harvard coach Joe Walsh said. “We took two losses, so we’re very disappointed.”

Sophomore center fielder Dillon O’Neill went 4-for-9 on the day, including a solo shot, and junior designated hitter Chris Rouches belted a two-run homer en route to three RBI in Game 2, but the Crimson struggled to find its offense and overcome early deficits.

BROWN 8, HARVARD 5

Following a low-scoring opening game, the Crimson took to the field for Round 2 eager to make plays and produce runs. Unfortunately for the visitors, they may have been a bit too ambitious.

In the bottom of the first, a bloop single with a man aboard resulted in two Harvard errors and a Bears run, setting the tone for a difficult afternoon.

“We need to cut down on mistakes,” Walsh said. “Mistakes on the mound, mistakes throwing to bases, our approach at the plate…it’s the little things that add up.”

The Crimson would keep the game close throughout, finding enough offense to pound out 12 hits, including the home runs by O’Neill and Rouches. Sophomore catcher Tyler Albright also had a strong performance with three hits and an RBI, but Harvard struggled to match the timeliness of Brown’s offense, which always seemed to produce with runners in scoring position.

A two-out RBI triple by Robert Papenhause and a three-run home run by leadoff man Steve Daniels off of freshman starter Brent Suter pushed the Bears’ lead to 6-1 before the Crimson began to fight back.

Suter, who shouldered seven earned runs through 6.2 innings, struggled at times but settled down to keep his squad in the game. The rookie produced his best innings at the end of his outing, mixing in a big breaking ball to rack up nine strikeouts while walking only one.

After Rouches collected three straight RBI in the fifth and sixth, O’Neill’s opposite field drive in the seventh brought Harvard within reach, 7-5. But Brown’s bullpen stifled the Crimson’s momentum, as Andrew Backowski and Matt Kimball combined for 2.2 innings of one-hit ball, preventing Harvard from closing the gap.

BROWN 3, HARVARD 1

The morning effort did not yield better results for the Crimson, as it floundered against Bears starter Mark Gormley. Harvard mustered only six hits in the contest, perhaps due to over-eager bats.

“Brown’s got some good pitchers, but we were also swinging at a lot of bad pitches,” Douglas said.

Other than an RBI double from Douglas in the top of the sixth, the Harvard offense did little to help rookie hurler Jonah Klees, who mirrored his afternoon counterpart by overcoming early struggles to pitch effectively.

Despite walking the first two batters of the game on eight pitches and allowing a runner to reach in each of the first four innings, Klees held the Bears in check with well placed side-arm breaking balls on the inside part of the plate. The rookie yielded three earned runs and only five hits through six innings, but could not outduel Gormley.

“[Gormley] was very good,” Walsh said. “He was tough and I tip my hat to him.”

The hulking righty worked 6 2/3 of the game’s seven innings, allowing a run with six strikeouts and no walks.

The Crimson put a scare into its hosts during the final inning, getting the tying run to second base. Rouches singled with one out before junior first baseman Dan Zailskas worked the count to 2-0 to chase Gormley. Zailskas earned a walk, and a double steal by pinch runners junior Sam Franklin and freshman J.T. Thomes gave the Crimson hope. But Kimball struck out the final two batters to pick up his first of two saves on the day.

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.