Baseball Bests Harvard During Series Finale

The baseball team (11-16, 6-9 Ivy) won one and lost two to Harvard University (8-22, 5-9 Ivy) this past weekend in Boston. 

In match one on Saturday, Harvard took a quick and early lead as Jack Rickheim scored for the Crimson off Gio Colasante’s hit. On the next bat, Matthew Giberti found home plate thanks to Tyler Shulma,n who singled to left field.

Down by two in the second inning, the Red orchestrated an impressive answer starting with senior outfielder and captain Jakobi Davis, whose hit allowed senior outfielder Ryan Porter to run home. Senior outfielder John Quinlan went up to bat next, and his bunt allowed sophomore infielder Owen Carlson to score. To complete its four-run gain on the Crimson, outfielder Kyle Musser doubled to center field and earned two runs batted in. 

Harvard answered next when Giberti singled — helping Sawyer Feller score. Now, the score was 4-3 with Cornell in the lead. 

What the Red needed at this point were some insurance runs to pad its lead. However, the next two innings would remain scoreless, and Harvard would retake the lead at the bottom of the sixth inning — Giberti and Feller both plated — giving the Crimson a two-run lead. 

Cornell would not answer until the eighth inning, with junior outfielder Caden Wildman making it home. The eighth inning was also the last inning of run production, where Harvard scored twice more. Ultimately, the Red fell to the Crimson, 5-8. 

“Despite having a lot of hits in game one, we had a lot of runners left on,so the strong offensive performance didn’t convert to runs enough in game one,” said sophomore left-handed pitcher Huxley Holcombe.  

Game two of the series began when Colasante hit a solo shot to right center field, giving the Crimson the lead of the game. The next three innings were all Harvard as it would tally four unanswered runs and pad its lead to 5-0 over the Red. 

Cornell’s offense did not come to life until the seventh and eighth innings — the only two innings in which it would score. First, freshman infielder Mason Barela homered, scoring Wildman. In the eighth inning, Musser hit a home run down left field and earned two RBIs. 

Wildman reached first on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt and advanced to second base on a throwing error by the pitcher, which advanced sophomore infielder Kevin Hager to third and scored sophomore catcher Mark Quatrani. On the next bat, Hager would score on a wild pitch. Porter made it home next when Barela got to first base on a fielder’s choice. The eight-point scoring run across two innings ended with junior infielder TJ Swidorski coming home on a Davis sacrifice fly out to left field. 

Now, Cornell was in the lead, 8-5, and like the previous game hours ago, it needed to maintain its lead. Unfortunately, the Red’s bats would go quiet in the ninth, giving Harvard’s Liam Wilson the opportunity to blast a walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning. Cornell would narrowly lose to the Crimson, 8-9. 

“[The] offense came together in the second half of game two, and we looked really good and like ourselves again,” Holcombe said. “We ended up being walked off on two run shots, which was tough, but if we’re gonna go down, that’s how to do it, fighting and forcing them to beat us.”

On Sunday, the teams met one last time at O'Donnell Field and competed in slugfest style — the Red went up first over Harvard at the top of the first inning when Davis hit a home run to right center. In the second inning, Porter was brought in by a Carlson single to right field. 

But the Crimson were ready to fight back as it took the lead during the third inning, thanks to Giberti singling down right field. This brought home Wilson and later George Cooper’s hit allowed Feller and Wilson to come home. While the fourth inning was scoreless between the two, the fifth inning was all Cornell, starting with Hager singling to left field, advancing Quatrani to third base and scoring Musser. During the next at bat, Hager would steal second and Quatrani ran home. Hager earned a run next too. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Harvard scored a go-ahead three-run home run. Now, the Crimson led 6-5. 

When it came time for Cornell to bat in the sixth inning, it was prepared to showcase its offensive prowess, combining for eight runs thanks to some fielding errors by Harvard and some strong hits from Cornell. 

With the game now at 13-6, Cornell, the Crimson tried to dig itself out of the deficit in the seventh and eighth innings with four runs. 

With the Crimson creeping up on the Red, Musser singled to center field, plating Davis. This run brought the score to 14-11. Unknown to Musser and Davis, this insurance run would be the difference between a loss and a win, as Harvard rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning, earning two runs. 

Ultimately, this was not enough, as Cornell held on to its lead. The final score was 14-13, Cornell. 

“Game three saw a solid start from Keene and strong offensive and defensive performance all game,” Holcombe said. “We left with a W, and a performance that felt like us again.”

Next, Cornell will tackle Dartmouth College (7-21, 5-10 Ivy) in Hanover, New Hampshire for a three-game series starting 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 26. In its last matchup roughly a year ago, the Red bested the Big Green thanks to a five-run lead in the first inning. For the Red to win this weekend and get back to a strong Ivy standing, it will be crucial that it takes an early lead and not fall behind. 

All the action will be available on ESPN+. 

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