By the end of that inning, Walsh had enough. The mass substitution gave seldom-used players like Seminara and Farmer some playing time, but was undoubtedly meant as a message to some of his players.

“We needed a wake-up call and we had nothing to lose,” O’Donnell said. “The other thing to remember is that everybody on the team is capable, and could help bring us back.”

Ross, the URI reliever, shut the replacements down after ending Harvard’s fifth-inning rally. He pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief and struck out three to earn the save.

Carter was one of the few bright spots for the Crimson. The third baseman went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI. He also sent a towering shot to left that the wind turned into an out at the wall. Carter was one of the few Crimson regulars who was not replaced in the fifth, shifting instead to second base.

Notes

Senior outfielder Joe Llanes made his long-anticipated return to O’Donnell field yesterday after offseason surgery for testicular cancer. Llanes was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat and went 0-for-1 before being lifted at the end of the fifth…Schneider’s single in the sixth inning was the first hit of his collegiate career…Sophomore Brendan Reed pitched two solid innings of scoreless relief in mop-up duty for Harvard. Reed has a 0.00 ERA in 12.2 innings so far this year.