Pedro Martinez might be Beantown's biggest pitching sensation of this young hardball season, but this side of the Charles, Joe Walsh's Crimson has an ace of its own.

One weekend and three wins into the Ivy League season, Walsh can boast that he's bagged what may be the top rookie in the Ancient Eight in freshman righthander John Birtwell. HARVARD  8 CORNELL  3 HARVARD  3 CORNELL  1

The Walpole, Mass. native shut down Cornell 3-1 in Ithaca, N.Y. on Sunday afternoon, closing out a doubleheader sweep which boosted Harvard (10-7,3-1 Ivy) into a first-place tie in the Ivy's Red Rolfe Division.

Birtwell--working after junior righthander Donny Jamieson had blanked the Big Red (7-8-1, 2-2) over five and one-third innings in the opener--threw five and two-thirds innings of four-hit ball, striking out nine while walking two, upping his record to a staff-best 3-0.

And perhaps most stunningly, Birtwell maintained his perfect 0.00 ERA, allowing one unearned run, extending his season-long perfect streak to 18 and two-thirds innings.

"[Junior catcher Jason] Keck called a great game," Birtwell said. "I was hitting my spots, and I had good defense behind me, the way it's been all year."

Birtwell and Jamieson combined to go 11 innings without allowing an earned run, fanning 12 over the two games as the Crimson bats broke through for 17 hits and 11 runs.

Harvard 8, Cornell 3

One day after dropping the second game of a doubleheader to the Princeton Tigers in a 10-2 decision, Harvard hit Cornell's Hoy Field ready to get back on track against the sub-500 Big Red.

Two innings in, however, junior starter James Kalyvas was in some self-created trouble.

The righthander walked two batters and hit two others, as Cornell took advantage of an uncharacteristic error by senior shortstop David Forst to string together three unearned runs before Walsh went to his bullpen.

Enter Jamieson, who had an unfortunate start with an 0-1 record and a 9.00 ERA out of the spring break trip, to close out the second inning and stop the bleeding at 3-0.

Trailing early for the second day in a row, and worried about the short seven-inning doubleheader format, the Harvard bats snapped back into form in the top of the third, tagging Cornell starter Nick Bayer for a five-spot in the top of the third.

Junior leftfielder Aaron Kessler's RBI double off Bayer scored senior designated hitter Brett Vankoski and junior third baseman Peter Woodfork with what proved the game-winning runs.

"We knew we had to bounce back Sun-day," Woodfork said. "In the third, we really wanted to get something together. We usually try to score one run an inning, but we weren't going to say no to five."

Jamieson, meanwhile, found his groove on the hill, facing only three above the minimum through five and one-third, allowing two hits, striking out three and walking one to post his first win of the 1998 campaign.

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.

Harvard takes its show on the road this afternoon at Rhode Island in a 3 p.m. start before its home opener Friday after-noon--a doubleheader against Gehrig division foe UPenn--at Cambridge's O'Donnell Field.

Senior centerfielder Brian Ralph, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, could return from his stint on the disabled list in time for weekend action. HARVARD, 8-3 at Hoy Field R  H  E Harvard  005  020  1  --  8  14< Tab>1 Cornell  030  000  0  --  3  21

HARVARD  AB  R  H  BI  BBSO Carey 2b  4  0  2  1  0  0 Huling cf  3  0  2  0  0  0 Woodfork 3b  2  1  1  0  1  0 Vankoski dh  4  1  0  0  0  1 Kessler lf  4  1  1  2  0  1 Keck c  3  1  3  0  1  0 Forst ss  4  1  2  3  0  0 Carmack rf  3  2  1  0  1  0 Binkowski 1b  4  1  2  2  0  1 Kalyvas p  0  0  0  0  0  0 Jamieson p  0  0  0  0  0  0 TOTALS  31  8  14  8  3  3

CORNELL  AB  R  H  BI  BBSO Macrie cf  3  0  0  1  0  2 Douglas 3b  3  0  0  1  1  0 Walkenbach ss  2  0  0  1  2  1 Osgood dh  3  0  1  0  0  0 Pritts if  3  1  0  0  0  0 Schaeffer rf  3  0  1  0  0  0 Mauro 1b  3  0  0  0  0  1 Gomez 2b  2  1  0  0  1  0 Franke c  2  1  0  0  0  0 Bayer p  0  0  0  0  0  0 Leopardi p  0  0  0  0  0  0 TOTALS  24  3  2  3  4  4

E: Forst, Leopardi.LOB: Harvard 8, Cornell 6. 2B: Kessler. HR Forst, Binkowski. SB: Carey, Keck. CS: Carey, Keck.

HARVARD  IP  H  R  ER  BBSO Kalyvas  1.2  0  3  0  3  1 Jamieson, W  5.1  2  0  0  1  3

CORNELL  IP  H  R  ER  BBSO Bayer, L  5.2  13  7  7  2  2 Leopardi  1.1  1  1  0  1  1

WP: Bayer.HBP: Franke (by Kalyvas), Macrie (by Kalyvas), Woodfork (by Bayer), Huling (by Bayer). HARVARD, 3-1 at Hoy Field R  H  E Harvard  000  030  0  --  3  31 Cornell  001  000  0  --  1  43

HARVARD  AB  R  H  BI  BBSO Huling cf  3  0  0  0  0  1 Carey 2b  3  0  0  0  0  1 Woodfork 3b  1  0  0  0  0  1 Harris 3b  2  0  1  0  0  0 Larocque dh  3  0  0  0  0  1 Kessler lf  2  0  1  0  1  0 Keck c  2  1  0  0  1  1 Forst ss  2  1  0  0  0  1 Carmack rf  1  0  0  0  0  1 Vankoski ph/rf  0  1  0  0  2  0 Binkowski 1b  3  0  1  2  0  1 Birtwell p  0  0  0  0  0  0 Madden p  0  0  0  0  0  0 TOTALS  22  3  3  2  4  8

CORNELL  AB  R  H  BI  BBSO Macrie cf  4  0  1  0  0  2 Douglas p  4  0  0  0  0  2 Walkenbach ss  3  0  1  0  0  1 Green 1b  3  0  0  0  0  3 Foley 3b  2  0  1  0  1  1 Schaeffer rf  3  0  0  0  0  0 Pritts if  0  1  0  0  2  0 Gomez 2b  2  0  0  0  0  2 Osgood ph  1  0  0  0  0  1 Mills 2b  0  0  0  0  0  0 Franke c  3  0  1  0  0  1 TOTALS  25  1  4  0  3  13

E: Forst, Douglas, Foley, Franke.LOB: Harvard 8, Cornell 7. 2B: Walkenbach. SB: Harris, Vankoski 2, Macrie, Pritts. CS: Kessler 2.

HARVARD  IP  H  R  ER  BBSO Birtwell, W  5.2  4  1  0  2  9 Madden  1.1  0  0  0  1  4

CORNELL  IP  H  R  ER  BBSO Douglas  7.0  3  3  2  4  8

WP: Douglas.HBP: Forst (by Douglas), Pritts (by Birtwell)