Not everything came easy for Saty, however. While he did a good job keeping his fastball down most of the afternoon, some of his pitches drifted a little farther up in the zone than he wanted. When that happened, Saty said, “I got hit.”

In the fifth, Saty left a 1-1 fastball just a bit too high to Minutemen rightfielder Jason Twomley and it cost him. Twomey swatted the offering into the visitor’s bullpen in right field. The homer broke a 1-1 tie and snapped Saty’s string of 14 batters faced without allowing a hit.

Saty ran into a little more trouble—and some bad luck—in the seventh. After pinch hitter Cullen Maumus flew out to start the inning, second baseman Adam Stojanowski crushed a pitch to left that fell in between outfielders Bryan Hale and Javy Lopez in left-center.

The speedy Hale almost tracked the gap-shot down, but was playing too shallow and straightaway in center to catch up with it in time. The hit ignited a three-run rally that gave UMass a 5-3 lead and pinned Saty with the loss.

It was, however, a loss that Harvard can stand if it signals a return to form by Saty.

“Hopefully this is a good start and can help me get back in [the rotation],” Saty said.

“That’s what you want to be—a weekend starter. I’m trying to get back in there and get things going again like I was earlier in the season to help the team.”

At the very least, Saty’s given Walsh something to think about. UMass will probably remember his name, too—at least in its shortened form.