Harvard was one of 12 teams to earn the right to advance to bracket play, but the Crimson was knocked out by Maryland in the first round with a 5-2 defeat.

Harvard led against both Georgia Tech and Maryland, but couldn’t extend its lead in either contest.

“In both games [against the ACC opponents] we had the lead and we kind of just sat on those runs,” said Cooley, who led Harvard with seven hits in the tournament.

The 3-1 round-robin record was still Harvard’s best-ever mark at the tournament. Last year, the Crimson went 2-2 and just snuck into the 12-team bracket before winning three straight. Two years ago, Harvard didn’t win any of its four Buzz games.

“Even though we didn’t come in second, it was still a much better start than last year, by far,” said Williamson, who led Harvard in the rout of Charleston Southern with four hits.

The victory over Mercer (14-18), a team that beat Harvard twice in three meetings last year, was the clearest sign of improvement.

The Crimson went up 3-0 in the fifth inning, fought off a Mercer rally to stay ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth and then added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh for the victory.

Whitton went the distance for the victory on the mound, surrendering just five hits and striking out 10, and she helped her own cause with an RBI.

Koppel, Miller, and sophomore shortstop Rachel Goldberg each hit solo home runs to pace the offense.

In its next game against Georgia Tech, the Crimson took a 2-0 lead with runs in the second and third innings, but couldn’t produce any more as the Yellow Jackets (24-8) came back with a run in the fourth off Guy and three in the fifth off Brotemarkle.

Harvard wasn’t doing much better against its third opponent, Tennessee Tech (12-15), until the bottom of the sixth. The Crimson trailed 4-1, its only run coming in the first when Williamson singled home Stefanchik.

But Stefanchik led off a Crimson comeback rally in the sixth. She reached on an error and Whitton walked to give the Crimson runners at first and second with two outs. Miller followed up by dropping a clutch hit into right field, leading to two more Harvard runs.

Koppel finished off the comeback with a two-run homer.

Harvard had no problem finding offense in the 18-11 victory over Charleston Southern (10-29). The game was closer than the final score indicated as Harvard trailed 6-4 after three innings and 7-6 after four, but 12 Crimson runs in the last three innings were more than enough to win the game.

Defensively, there wasn’t a whole lot to be happy about as the Crimson made four errors, and Tanner and Sabin combined to give up six home runs for the game.