Harvard Takes Walk-off Loss in Third Straight Winless Series to Start Season

The Harvard baseball team will have to wait another week for a chance to claim its first win of the year, as Liberty swept the Crimson with flair this past weekend. The Flames captured two big wins to start the series and ended it with a dynamic walk-off double in Sunday’s game to hand Harvard its third straight series sweep.

The Crimson (0-9) continued to show promise, but much like its first two foes, Liberty (11-3) was too much to handle for a full nine innings. Closing out its nonconference schedule at California Baptist — a tough west-coast style program that averages over seven runs per game — Harvard will likely see a repeat of last season, where it did not pick up its first win of the season until after spring break.

Harvard 3, Liberty 9

The first game of the weekend started rough for the Crimson, as captain Gio Colasante’s start on the mound saw the senior give up one hit, four walks, and two hit-by-pitches in the bottom of the second. Combined with another walk from freshman reliever Davis Kahn, Harvard allowed five straight second-inning runs on either a walk or a hit-by-pitch, not a sight that the Crimson’s pitching staff wanted to see.

Things did not get much better from there, as two runs each in the fourth and sixth innings gave the Flames a 9-0 advantage over the visitors. Harvard did not go scoreless, however, as a two-run home run from senior outfielder Max Lane in the top of the seventh put the Crimson on the board. An RBI double from junior catcher Dominic Brancel in the eighth added one more run in Harvard’s 9-3 loss.

Harvard 7, Liberty 11

After a disastrous start in Friday’s loss, Saturday afternoon’s game two seemed to be going in a similar direction.

Sophomore starting pitcher Luca Alagheband — who pitched two beautiful starts across the team’s first two series with a 2.45 ERA — was unable to continue his early-season success. After a G. Colasante sacrifice fly in the top of the first gave the Crimson a 1-0 lead, Alagheband gave up five runs across the first and second innings to put Harvard in a 5-1 hole.

The tide then started to turn for the Crimson, for in the top of the third with the bases loaded, Brancel hit a two-run double to cut the lead to two. Two batters later, freshman infielder Aidan Colasante, the younger brother of Harvard’s captain, cleared the bases with a three-run bomb to put his team back on top with a 6-5 lead.

A hit-by-pitch in the top of the fourth on G. Colasante drove in another run and extended the Crimson lead to 7-5, but the hosts stormed back immediately. In the bottom of the inning, Liberty combined smart base running with timely hits to drive in three runs, and after four, it held a tight 8-7 lead.

Two homers in the bottom of the seventh added three insurance runs for the Flames, and the team blanked Harvard the rest of the way through to come away with the 11-7 victory.

Harvard 4, Liberty 5

Much like the first two matchups, Sunday’s game three heated up early, with both teams scoring in the first inning. The Crimson had a sacrifice fly in the top of the frame courtesy of senior infielder Jordan Kang, and Liberty responded in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single and a two-run triple to give the Flames an early 3-1 lead.

From there, things quieted down as both starters went on to shine in the middle stretch of the game.

For Harvard, it was junior Andrew Abler, as the righty allowed just two hits in six innings pitched. For Liberty, it was sophomore Bradley Zayac, who also allowed just two hits in seven innings pitched of his own. Going into the bottom of the seventh, the score still sat at 3-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Flames added another run on a wild pitch to go up 4-1, and it seemed as if the game would end up like the first two of the series.

The Crimson, however, was determined to make it close. Gio Colasante walked in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded to bring in one run, and the next batter — freshman infielder Matthew Witkow — ripped a single to bring in two more runs and tie it up at four apiece.

Unfortunately, Liberty took advantage of the tie game in the bottom of the ninth, and Flames’ junior outfielder Josh Campos hit an RBI walk-off double with two outs to send the visitors back to Cambridge without a win.

Harvard will play its last full non-conference series this weekend, taking on California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif., in a four-game series that stretches from Friday to Monday. All games will be played at either 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. EDT, with streaming available on ESPN+.

— Staff Writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at [email protected].