The double-barrelled relief tandem of juniors Kenon Ronz and Barry Wahlberg combined to put out a three-alarm fire in the fifth as Harvard held on for a 4-2 win. Wahlberg stayed on to close out the final two innings, earning his third save of the season.

Senior starter Justin Nyweide (4-2) retired the side in order in three of the first four innings, but started to tire in the fifth. He gave up a solo homer to third baseman Jeff Nichols to start the inning, then allowed Brown’s next two hitters to reach on a double and a single. After a sacrifice fly plated the Bears’ second run, Nyweide hit second baseman Rob Deeb with a pitch to put runners at the corners with just the one out.

That’s when Walsh summoned Ronz, the Crimson’s one-time weekend starter who has settled into his new role of situational lefty. Ronz answered the call, striking out the lefthanded-hitting Matt Kutler.

Kutler was Brown’s leading hitter going into the weekend with a .377 average.

“I think the key to the game [Saturday] was Kenon getting that left-handed batter out,” Wahlberg said. “He’s been a starter before, but I think his role now is going to be getting the left-handed hitters. That’s huge if he can continue to do that.”

After Kutler was retired, Wahlberg came in and pitched a lights-out 2.1 innings, fanning five of the seven batters he faced.

“I just tried to throw strikes, let the defense help me and limit the damage as much as possible,” Wahlberg said. “I’ve been lucky in terms of getting nice calls from our catchers. We’ve been clicking pretty well.”

Harvard led from start to finish Saturday, pounding a pair of first-inning homers off Brown starter Jonathan Stern. The hot-hitting Hendricks struck first, blasting a one-out bomb with senior Faiz Shakir on first after getting hit by a pitch.

Mann connected two hitters later, blasting a 1-0 fastball over the wall in right-center to give the Crimson a 3-0 lead.

“The first pitch was offspeed in the dirt and I figured ... they were going to challenge me,” Mann said. “They threw a fastball right down the middle.”

Harvard added its final run in the fourth, when Mager singled home sophomore catcher Mickey Kropf, who had doubled.

Stern (6-3) finished his afternoon with four runs charged to him, three of them earned. He allowed eight hits and one walk while striking out nine.

Brown 6, Harvard 5

at O’Donnell Field, Allston, MA