NEW HAVEN, Conn.—Senior pitcher Ben Crockett rediscovered his changeup on Saturday and helped the Harvard baseball team find itself in the process.

Buoyed by a weekend’s worth of excellent starting pitching, the Crimson snapped a 1-6 skid by sweeping its four-game series at Yale. The wins moved the Crimson into sole possession of first place in the Red Rolfe Division.

“We had it all come together this weekend,” Crockett said. “We combined clutch hitting with good defense and pitching. I’d say we’re very confident at this point in the season.”

Crockett had one of his sharpest outings of the year in an 8-3 Harvard win on Saturday. Featuring three quality pitches—including a refined offspeed delivery—he held Yale (9-21, 3-9 Ivy) to one hit through his first six innings of work and matched a career-high in strikeouts with 14.

Sophomore Marc Hordon, just activated off the Crimson’s injured list, almost matched Crockett’s mark in the early game yesterday, fanning 13 in a three-hit shutout of Yale. Harvard rode a four-run first inning to a 6-0 victory in that game before closing out the weekend with a 4-3 win in the series finale.

With the victory, Harvard moved a game ahead of Brown, who split its doubleheader with Dartmouth yesterday.

The Crimson (12-18, 9-3) will meet the Bears (20-17, 8-4) this weekend at O’Donnell Field in a showdown that could very well determine the division champion.

Harvard 4, Yale 3

With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning, senior shortstop Mark Mager hit a bases-clearing double that gave the Crimson a 3-0 lead. A sacrifice fly one inning later by Bryan Hale produced Harvard’s fourth run and the Crimson bullpen held on to complete the weekend sweep of Yale.

Senior Chaney Sheffield, who impressed as a starter in place of Hordon against Columbia last Sunday, cruised in the early-going yesterday. He had five strikeouts through the first two innings and retired the side in order in the third.

But Sheffield ran into trouble in the fifth. A walk to centerfielder Chris Elkins loaded the bases and prompted his exit.

Sophomore Trey Hendricks moved to the mound from the DH spot. He walked in one run, but recorded a strikeout and induced a groundout to escape without further damage.

Hendricks allowed just two hits over the next 3.1 innings to earn his first win of the season. Junior Barry Wahlberg struck out Yale rightfielder C.J. Orrico with the sacks full in the ninth for his second save.

Harvard 6, Yale 0

Pitching in his first game in two weeks, Hordon showed a bit of rust when he walked Yale leadoff hitter Zac Bradley to start the bottom of the first.