"We handed it to them," was the only way freshman center fielder Bryan Hale could describe the Harvard baseball team's 18-7 loss to Vermont yesterday afternoon.

The Crimson (13-20, 7-5 Ivy), who came into the game having played perhaps its best game of the year Wednesday night in a 6-1 victory at Boston College, was playing its third game in three nights and seventh in the past week. That grueling schedule, combined with the four-hour bus ride north to Burlington to the Catamounts' (17-10, 5-7 America East) Centennial Field, may well have hurt Harvard's sharpness and contributed to the team's generally sloppy play, which included five errors, ten walks, a balk, and six unearned runs.

Whatever the reason, though, it was clear from the outset that it would be a rough outing for the Crimson.

In the bottom of the first, Harvard sophomore starting pitcher Brendan Reed (1-1), who is also a Crimson editor, got behind several batters and was unable to get anybody out, allowing five Catamounts to reach base on a hit, three walks, and an error. The first four of these runners scored, although only three of the runs were earned, before Reed's relief-f reshman Jason Brown-was able to get out of the inning.

Harvard was able to get a run back in the top of the second as junior first baseman Josh San Salvador's sacrifice fly plated junior third baseman Nick Carter.

Vermont, however, came back with three more runs in third off Brown, who nonetheless pitched 4 .2 strong innings and performed admirably in combating Vermont's strong running game by frequently throwing over to first, being quick to the plate, throwing strikes, and varying his delivery to keep the Catamount baserunners off guard.

"[Brown] hasn't seen that much action this year, but when he does come in, he's got three good pitches," said captain Scot Hopps.

Even so, Brown failed to survive the fifth, giving up two more runs for a total of five, four earned, to go along with seven hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.

Madhu Satyanarayana relieved him and allowed three more Catamounts to score before the end of the inning. He also gave up a run in the sixth, although none of the four he allowed in his 1.1 innings of work were earned.

In the Harvard half of the sixth, Hale continued his strong play of late, hitting his second home run in as many days-this one a three-run shot coming on a 1-0 changeup that Vermont reliever Brian Cain left up in the strike zone.

However, five more Catamount tallies in the seventh secured Vermont's third win over the Crimson this season, despite catcher Hopps' solo home run in the eighth and two more Harvard runs off of Dennis Moser in the final frame.

After the game, the Harvard players found themselves at a loss in trying to describe what happened.

"That's why you play baseball a lot," Hopps said.

Today, the Crimson has an optional practice, allowing players to obtain much-needed rest before they travel to Brown for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday that will conclude Harvard's physically and emotionally draining stretch of eleven games in nine days.

Those four games, as well as home-and-home doubleheaders with Dartmouth next weekend, will determine the Red Rolfe Division's representative in the Ivy League playoffs. Currently, Harvard and Dartmouth hold a one-game advantage over Brown, meaning the Crimson controls its own destiny.

To take advantage of that situation, though, Harvard will have to decrease its miscues significantly, a goal that, after last night, appears to be no simple task.