Down 4-0 after four and a half, Walsh liftedMarcucci, presumably in order to keep himavailable for later games, switching to seniorrighthander John Wells, who gave up the criticalruns that put the game out of reach, surrenderinga two-run homer to Jacobs and a three-run shot toshortstop Ryan Owens--his 10th of the season.
Walsh mopped up with sophomore Rich Linden,junior Andrew Huling and freshman Dan Saken, allof whom took it on the nose as the Titans rubbedsalt in Harvard's wounds, tacking on three runs inthe seventh and four in the eighth to saddleHarvard with the stigma of a 16-1 debacle.
"You can talk about pickoff moves or at-bats,"Walsh said. "But when you lose 16-1 and get yourlegs turned out like that, a lot of people hadsomething to do with it."
Notes
In tallying its 20 hits, Fullerton nickedHarvard pitching for base hits in every inning,and got base knocks from every starter. Jacobs,first baseman Kevin Duck (3-for-5) and thirdbaseman Ryan Moore (3-for-3) led the way.
The loss marks only the second time inHarvard's history the program has lost an NCAAtournament Game One. In 11 appearances, Harvard is9-2 in openers.
Walsh announced that he would start freshmanrighthander John Birtwell (4-0, 2.57 ERA) in thismorning's elimination matchup against NichollsState. Walsh will also have juniors Andrew Duffelland Donny Jamieson, as well as sophomore DerekLennon, available out of the pen.
Despite the pickoff, Carey was the lonehorseman in the batter's box for Harvard, goingthree-for-three and scoring its only run in thetop of the eighth. Ralph plated him with an RBIsingle, his 33rd RBI on the year.
Third-seeded Tulane won yesterday's openingmatchup against Southwest Louisiana 11-5, asConference USA Pitcher of the Year Josh Bobbittposted his 13th win. Rightfielder Jason Sparks(2-for-4, 3 RBI) added two homers for the GreenWave, which tackles Fullerton this afternoon.