Advertisement

Seniors Spark Crimson's Weekend

The senior class carried the Harvard baseball team this weekend as four regulars and three pitchers left their mark in their last games at O'Donnell Field.

The elders kept the Crimson close in every game before younger reserves provided ninth-inning heroics in the rubber match of the Ivy League championship series against Princeton to give Harvard its third consecutive title in the Ancient Eight.

Peter Woodfork returned to second base in the second game after a sore elbow restricted him to designated-hitter duties while freshman Faiz Shakir filled in at second in the first game.

Woodfork robbed Princeton senior center fielder Jason Koonin of a base hit with a leaping catch just minutes after taking the field and made a diving save later in the game without aggravating his elbow.

Advertisement

"I felt comfortable," Woodfork said. "I could have played in the first game, too, but Coach didn't want me out there. I felt fine and I didn't have to make many throws which was good for my elbow."

Woodfork was even better at the plate. In the second game, trailing 7-3 and facing senior righthander Jeff Golden with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, he smacked a ground ball up the middle that drove in two runs to cut the lead in half. He reached third base and represented the tying run when junior designated hitter Jeff Bridich ended the game on a grounder to shortstop.

"I was just trying to hit the ball hard," Woodfork said. "I know I'm not a home run hitter but we needed runs and I had to do something with the bases loaded."

Woodfork also doubled and scored in the third inning. In the third game, he was three-for-five and, in the first game, he had two hits and an RBI.

But the star of the first game was Woodfork's classmate, catcher Jason Keck.

Recommended Articles

Advertisement