But this year, he doesn't just go up hacking anymore-and it shows. So far this season, he has almost three hits for every whiff. He has also fanned just once every 7.8 plate appearances, a remarkable ratio. But the most telling statistic-disciples of Peter Gammons will appreciate this-might be his robust .1073 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). In layman's terms, that basically means Carter is always either on base or driving in the people who are.

"He must be seeing grapefruits when he's up there, because he's just hitting the shit out of the ball," co-captain Scott Hopps said.

Carter's emergence comes as no surprise to his teammates who have seen him pound the ball in the offseason. A California native, Carter is used to playing year-round, and he perennially is one of the Crimson's best preseason performers.

"It's been sort of the running joke on the team that he's the best fall player on the team," Hopps said. "This winter, when we were hitting in the gym, he was hitting the crap out of the ball. He just kept saying, 'I hope I can actually do it when the season starts'."

So far, Carter has. And as Harvard kicks off Red Rolfe Division play this weekend with a four-game set against Yale, the Crimson offense appears primed to finally start taking advantage of the team's excellent pitching staff, which entered Wednesday's contest with an impressive 3.69 ERA. Harvard's offensive resurgence is largely thanks to Carter, whose looming presence in the Crimson order forces opposing pitchers to go after the rest of the lineup. It's no wonder, then, that the rest of the team's hitters are starting to come around (see catcher Brian Lentz, 4-for-5 with a homer against the Crusaders).

After all, as Wednesday proved, all it takes is a spark from one player to ignite a fire.

"Hitting is contagious," Hopps said. "[Assistant] Coach [Matt} Hyde says it all the time. I don't know if it's how the pitcher reacts after somebody gets a hit, or if the hitter themselves just react. But it definitely carries over."