The Harvard men's baseball team got out the broom this weekend and swept away both Pennsylvania and Navy in doubleheaders Saturday and yesterday.
These victories significantly brighten the Crimson's Eastern Interscholastic Baseball League title hopes as Harvard improved to 5-3 in the league and 11-14 overall.
In the games on Saturday in Philadelphia, the Crimson enjoyed one of its most prolific offensive outputs of the season downing the Quakers, 15-0 and 8-3. In the first game, the batsmen jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the second and adding three more in the fourth. They then turned the game into a rout by scoring nine runs in an explosive fifth inning. The offensive onslaught proved to be superfluous, however, as junior lefthander Sean Johnston continued his mastery against opposing batters, garnering his first shutout of the season. In blanking the normally hot-hitting Quakers, Johnston raised his season record to 1-3--a deceptive statistic considering his strong 2.53 ERA, which places him near the head of the EIBL pitching class. Juniors Dan Scanlan and Nick DelVecchio each had homers for Harvard, and Johnston also benefited from multiple-hit games from Mike Hill, Marcel Durand, Dave Morgan and Pat Hegarty. In the nightcap, the Crimson showed character, coming from behind after a 2-0 first inning deficit to down the Quakers 8-3. Freshman starter Jeff Mitchell had his roughest outing in a while as he gave up three runs in two-and-one-third innings, although only two runs were earned. Peter Rau saved the day, however, blanking the opposition for the remainder of the evening. The offensive hero of the game was Captain Marcel Durand, who had a home run and four RBI's as he continues his torrid hitting. From Philadelphia, the Crimson traveled to Annapolis, MD to take on the Middies of Navy. Rain on Sunday, however, postponed the games until Monday. The day off did not slow down the Crimson, however, who took two in Max Bishop stadium, 9-6 and 12-5. In the first game, the Harvard attack again started off quickly, scoring a run in the second and four in the third off Navy starter Rob Sorenson. Crimson starter Tom Hurley also benefited from five Midshipman errors which complemented Harvard's 13 hits. Hurley pitched a strong game, allowing one run through the first six frames. He survived a five-run Navy rally in the bottom of the seventh to attain his third win in five decisions. In the final game of the road trip, Coach Leigh Hogan elected to start rarely used sophomore hurler Ray Desrocher, who survived a shaky start to pitch well. After being given a 4-0 lead by the red-hot Crimson in the first, Desrocher gave up two in the bottom of the inning before settling down to blank the opposition over the next three frames. All in all, Desrocher went five-and-one-third innings, giving up all five runs--three earned--evening his record at 1-1. Sophomore Tony Lancette came on to blank the Middies for the final one-and-two-thirds
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