The Harvard baseball team celebrates its fourth Ivy title in six years on the O’Donnell Field infield Saturday. Junior reliever Barry Wahlberg recorded the final out in Harvard’s two-game sweep of Princeton.

Welcome back, Harvard baseball dynasty.

With a two-game sweep of two-time defending Ivy champion Princeton at O’Donnell Field on Saturday, Harvard capped an improbable run to its first Ivy title since 1999 and returned to the top of the league it dominated during the late 1990s.

“It was awesome,” said senior pitcher Chaney Sheffield with a smile. “It couldn’t have worked out better. I can’t even articulate how wonderful this is.”

With the win, the Crimson earned an automatic bid to an NCAA regional beginning May 31. 64 teams advance to the first round of regional play.

After claiming the first game 5-1 behind a superb complete game performance from senior Justin Nyweide, the Crimson (20-23, 16-7 Ivy) took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of game two.

With Harvard playing as visitor on its own field due to the Ivy Championship format, junior closer Barry Wahlberg trotted to the mound to face the heart of the Tigers’ order. After striking out designated hitter Jon Miller and first baseman Ryan Eldridge, Wahlberg got sophomore catcher Tim Lahey to chop a grounder to third.

Senior Nick Carter fielded the ball and fired to first. As the ball popped into senior Josh San Salvador’s mitt, Carter hurled his glove into the sunny afternoon sky and the players swarmed the field in ecstasy to pile high on the infield grass.

“Our goal before the game was to end with a pile-on,” Nyweide said, “and that’s what we ended with.”

The championship came after a season of stark contrasts for the Crimson.

After struggling in trips to Texas and Florida, Harvard entered Ivy play with a 3-12 record. But behind excellent starting pitching, the Crimson rebounded to post a 13-7 Ivy mark and a 2-1 victory over Brown in a one-game playoff for the Red Rolfe division crown.

The victory set up the showdown with Lou Gehrig Division champion Princeton (22-23, 13-9), which the Crimson swept in two games during the regular season.

“We turned it around after a lot of people counted us out at the beginning,” senior leftfielder Javy Lopez said. “It’s special.”

It is Harvard’s 18th Ivy title, and the first since the team’s current seniors were freshmen. The Crimson claimed three straight league crowns from 1997-1999 before Princeton stopped the streak.

Harvard 2, Princeton 1