The game is almost a foregone conclusion when your starter get knocked out in the first inning. Unless you're Harvard and playing at home.

Harvard (30-10, 16-4 Ivy) rallied with runs in each of the last three innings to beat Northeastern (23-19), 7-6, yesterday.

With the comeback win, the Crimson preserved its perfect regular season at home, finishing 13-0 and winning its 21st straight going back to last year.

"I don't feel any difference home or away, though we don't want to let anyone come into our ball park and beat us," said senior rightfielder Andrew Huling. "We don't want to lose any games, it's just worked out that the games we've lost have been on the road." NORTHEASTERN  6 HARVARD  7

Senior centerfielder Brian Ralph, the team leader in slugging and second in average, provided the late-inning boost which carried Harvard over the Huskies.

Following a bunt single by Huling, Ralph stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with the Crimson trailing 6-4.

After the ball disappeared over the rightfield fence, Ralph had his team-leading seventh tater of the year, and it was a whole new ballgame.

Freshman hurler Dan Sachem (1-0), who won his first career game, shut Northeastern down for four straight innings, and Harvard went into the bottom of the ninth needing one run to win.

With one out, sophomore first baseman Erik Binkowski singled to right, and sophomore Mike Madden pinchran for him. After senior leftfielder Aaron Kessler failed to move him, Huling walked with two out.

Ralph stepped up to the plate, and a clean RBI single to right later, the game was over.

"We all felt we were in the game the whole way," Huling said. "There were a lot of opportunities to score, and the pitcher wasn't overpowering. They were getting fortunate because we were hitting the ball well and kept getting just a little under it. We kind of expected to come back."

Harvard was placed in a comeback situation by the ineffective performance of senior starter John Wells. Wells lasted only two-thirds of an inning, surrendering four runs on five hits.

The Huskies' star first baseman Carlos Pena provided an RBI double. The next hitter, rightfielder Tim Daley, knocked in two more runs.

Harvard didn't help itself either, as two throwing errors allowed second baseman Kevin Kim to score the fourth run of the frame. Sophomore righthander Rich Linden came in with the bases loaded and got the first man he faced to end the inning.

The Crimson came back in the bottom of the first with a pair of manufactured runs. Junior catcher Jason Keck hit a sacrifice fly to bring Huling in. Captain David Forst then knocked in Ralph to cut the lead to two.