Hard Luck Pitcher: Senior pitcher Chip Poncy has had back luck the last week and a half.
Columbia shelled him for 11 runs (7 earned) in 2.2 innings 11 days ago. Then he lost to New Hampshire by giving up one unearned run on one hit in two innings.
Last Saturday, his game against Princeton was rained out after he had faced only three batters. In Sunday's make-up, Head Coach Leigh Hogan pulled him after 2.2 innings. He had again given up one unearned run on one hit, walking a batter each inning.
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Fundamentally Flawed: Poor execution on bunting cost Harvard two good chances in last Sunday's game against Princeton. With runners on first and second and no outs in the fourth, sophomore Joe Weidenbach, who had already bunted one ball foul during this at-bat, was asked to sacrifice on a 2-2 count and fouled the pitch off for strike three. Harvard failed to extend its 2-1 lead and subsequently lost the game.
The other lost opportunity was a fouled-off squeeze attempt by sophomore Bo Bernhard in the fifth, with Princeton leading 4-3.
On the positive side, Andriola successfully laid down two bunts in the game, producing one run.
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Golden Gloves: Bernhard has committed only one error in 70 chances at second base, a fielding average of .986.
Junior Eric Weissman has been very solid at third base the last six games. In the fourth inning of the game on Saturday against Princeton, Weissman made a diving stop of a blast down the third-base line, ala Brooks Robinson. The stop held the batter to a single and prevented the Tigers from scoring, when the Crimson was leading 5-4.
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The Captain Strikes Back: Captain Mike Hill broke out of a mini one-for-eight slump on Sunday. The first nine pitches he saw were all balls. He laced the next pitch, which made its way into the strike-zone, deep to right-center for a double that bounced off the fence. Hill also hit the ball hard his next at-bat, but it was caught deep in center.
"I had been fighting with myself," Hill said. "Now I am more relaxed."
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NOTES: Sophomore designated hitter James Crowley pulled a hamstring on Friday against Cornell and was replaced in the lineup by Weidenbach for the two game against Princeton. Crowley pinch-hit in the second game, but grounded out to its first...Harvard has not hit a triple in its first 19 games, while its opponents have hit only one. Last year, the Crimson had 18 three-baggers...The Crimson is 8-7 on weekends and 0-4 during the week...Harvard has scored first only five times and has led only five times after the fifth inning. Half of the Crimson's eight wins have