Right before the double steal, Walsh had replaced Saken with junior Derek Lennon. Lennon induced catcher Mike Kardas to take strike three to end the inning.
"Saken came through for us today," Walsh said. "We needed him to give us six innings and he did that, throwing very well in his second start."
After Saken left, the Crimson's bullpen was untouchable. Lennon worked an additional two innings and allowed just two base runners, while striking out three.
Senior Garett Vail, usually the first man in the Crimson rotation entered the ninth inning throwing smoke. He blew a fastball by Kardas and froze O'Keefe on a breaking ball for the first two outs. Woodfork made a leaping catch of a line drive to end the ballgame.
Vail earned the first save for any Crimson pitcher this season.
"Vail looked real today," Walsh said. "There's no question he's moved into the upper echelon of players."
The Crimson jumped on the board early, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Carey led off the frame with a single and Woodfork's single moved him to third.
Huling hit a long sacrifice fly down the left-field line, which required a diving catch by pat O'Keefe to keep Huling from taking extra bases. Keck's double knocked in the other Harvard run.
The only slight downer for the Crimson was its defense, which committed three errors. One of them, a deep fly ball which Bridich dropped, put the Crusaders' first run on base in the fifth.
Bridich had an excuse, though. A catcher by trade, Walsh put him in left field to add some pop to the lineup.
The Crimson has no rest, however. It returns to action today, hosting Providence in a rescheduled game. The Friars (31-10) are the No. 1 team in New England.
Junior Mike Giampaolo is expected to start for Harvard.