Self was relieved by sophomore A.J. Solimine in the fifth inning, but, by that point, Valparaiso had already done enough to ensure victory.

Harvard 9, Duquesne 8

The Crimson had three home runs through 18 games last season. This year, it had three through 18 innings.

With the game tied at 8-8 in the ninth inning, Lentz blasted a solo home run to give Harvard its second comeback victory of the day, 9-8 over Duquesne (4-9). Just the inning before, Hendricks had smashed a two-run homer to tie the game.

Lentz, who sat out the 2002 season, made his presence felt immediately.

“It was a huge hit in a clutch situation,” Wahlberg said of Lentz’s home run. “He came up really big for us. That’s what we need guys to do, especially seniors.”

Senior lefthander Kenon Ronz started the game for Harvard, but struggled with his control over four innings.

“He just had a lot of energy,” Mann said. “He was ready to go and excited. He was throwing hard, but it wasn’t necessarily going where it was supposed to.”

Junior Jason Brown and senior Ryan Tsujikawa threw middle relief for Harvard. Wahlberg (1-0) entered the game in the seventh to take the win.

Harvard 3, Holy Cross 2

Even playing in the 90-degree Florida heat, it took the Crimson bats a little while to warm up. But they eventually did.

Trailing 2-0 through eight and a half innings, Harvard finally broke onto the scoreboard, posting three runs to rally for the win in the ninth.

Wallace lined a game-winning double to score freshman Morgan Brown—pinch running for freshman Josh Klimkiewicz—and Lentz to clinch the game for the Crimson.

“He was throwing all fastballs,” Wallace said. “I finally got my hands through it and hit it, luckily in the gap.”

Moments earlier, Mann had set the stage for Wallace’s heroics. The sophomore ignited the limp Harvard offense by pulling a one-two, inside fastball over the left-center field fence to cut the lead in half.

“I’d been out in front all day long,” Mann said. “I think because I had two strikes on me I finally sat back. His pitches were just ridiculously slow. I’d been licking my lips all day.”

Sophomore Mike Morgalis—an off-season transfer from Notre Dame—started the game for Harvard. The righthander pitched seven solid innings, allowing two runs in his Crimson debut.

“It was really exciting to see Mike Morgalis go out and pitch so well,” Wahlberg said. “He didn’t get the win, but he pitched seven innings of two-run baseball, and that’s a great way to open the season.”

Senior Brendan Reed (1-0), the final Harvard reliever to take the mound in the ninth, took the victory. The win avenged the Crimson’s 2002 loss to the Crusaders (1-5), a 2-1 setback at Holy Cross.

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu.