Though Mager played only a supporting role in the second, he was the leading man of the next inning's drama. Giampaolo held the Friars scoreless in the top of the third, and Mager highlighted the bottom of the frame with a three-run blast to left.
Abandoning the gentle pecking that led to its first four runs, Harvard's seven third-inning scores came in bunches. A Keck walk and a pair of singles by Bridich and San Salvador loaded the bases for Huling, who tried to unload them with a sharp grounder to the right side.
First baseman Mike O'Keefe laid leather to cowhide, but the ball bounded off of his glove and into short right. Two runs scored on one of four Providence errors.
Three batters later, the bases again full, captain Hal Carey brought two more home on a roller up the middle to give Harvard an 8-2 advantage. The next hitter was Mager, who lined an 0-1 fastball just over the fence in left.
"I had a feeling he'd be coming inside with a pitch because he'd just drilled me the inning before," Mager said. "I was still very upset about that, and it was hurting, so I just wanted to hit it back at his head. He threw it inside, and one of the things I've been working on with Coach [Chip] Forrest is just snapping the hands, and I just pulled them through."
The 11 runs were plenty.
Giampaolo spotted his fastball well all game, only getting into trouble in the second and fifth, a noteworthy accomplishment against so potent a lineup. His final pitch of the game, a three-run homer to left by sophomore Daniel Conway, was only his second costly mistake.
"I had two pitches working, the fastball and curveball, and I just located the fastball hitting both corners, and I used the curveball to give them an offspeed look and keep them off-balance," Giampaolo said.
Yesterday's game was Harvard's fourth in three days, and this weekend against Yale will complete a stretch of eight games in six days. Given the strain on the pitching staff, it was particularly important that Giampaolo soak up innings against the Friars.
"He hadn't gone that far all season, and we were down a little bit in pitching having played so many games this week," Walsh said. "He gave us six strong innings; he made two pitches he wishes he could have back that were hit out of the yard, but Providence is that type of ball club."
Crockett and Jamieson will both likely start this weekend despite pitching yesterday. Harvard will also send senior Garett Vail and sophomore John Birtwell to the hill in this, its penultimate home weekend of the season.
If there is an early favorite for Ivy Pitcher of the Year, it may be Birtwell, who was named Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week on Wednesday.
At 4-4 (11-19 overall), Yale sits in last place in the Red Rolfe division, but the Elis sport what is arguably the best pitching rotation in the Ivy. Therefore, the Harvard bats will need to be on their best behavior, or at least as good as they were yesterday.
"Yale has to be the most important series of the year," Mager said. "Yale is our biggest rivalry and we think we're ready for them. If we just play like we did today, and look to swing the bats, we'll be fine."