On the other side of the box, Cornell looked like it should have switched to Tylenol, as Bayer surrendered 13 hits and seven earned runs through five and two-thirds gruesome innings.

The Crimson got homers from Forst, who finished 2-for-4 with four RBI, and sophomore first baseman Erik Binkowski, who added two ribs of his own, in the 14-hit trouncing.

Harvard 3, Cornell 1

Runs were harder to come by in the nightcap, as Big Red starter John Douglas turned his submarine delivery into a complete-game three-hitter, fanning eight while walking four.

Harvard went toe to toe with the Red, however, getting the aforementioned quality start from Birtwell and another clutch base hit from Binkowski, whose two-run single in the top of the fifth capped a three-run rally.

"Anyone in our order can come through," Woodfork said. "We got production from the bottom of the order in Forst and Binkowski."

Birtwell, meanwhile, rolled, getting a season-best nine strikeouts, mixing a two-seam fastball, a four-seamer and a slider to drop opponents' batting average against to a paltry. 150.

"Cornell's a great hitting team, and you've got to respect that," Birtwell said. "But Jamieson showed me they could be stopped, and that helped my confidence."

Birtwell's innovative motion and three-quarters delivery may have caused Walsh and pitching coach Marty Nastasia some worries in the dugout, but the freshman silenced all doubts with a seemingly effortless win in just the second start of his college career.

"Coach Walsh says I've got the most unorthodox motion he's ever seen," Birtwell said. "But he says as long as I keep pitching like this I can throw however I want."

Sophomore closer Mike Madden struck out four in one and one-third innings to nail down the win, earning his second save of the season and helping the Crimson close out a three-win road week-end to open the Ivy title defense.

Notes

Jamieson and junior Andrew Duffell, both winners over the weekend, each bagged their first victories of 1998. The pair combined for 13 wins in 1997.

Although the departure of first baseman Pete Albers created the only question mark in the Crimson lineup, his replacements--the platoon of sophomores Binkowski and Jason Larocque--have taken great strides toward filling Albers' shoes. The two went 5-for-13 over the weekend, tallying four RBI and playing errorless defense. Binkowski also hit his first collegiate home run Sunday off Bayer.

On the darker side, the Crimson defense sinned, committing six errors--two apiece from Forst and Woodfork on the usually sure-handed left side of the infield.