Harvard had broken out for the second time in the first inning, plating three runs on three hits.
With runners on second and third and one run already scored, freshman catcher Erin Halpenny smashed a double to bring home both Goldberg and Whitton, but was ultimately stranded at third.
Halpenny notched her third RBI of the game in the third, but that additional run was quickly erased by the Rams, who finally scored one of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Goldberg drove in one more to push the lead to four, where it remained until the bottom half of the fifth.
But the early offensive surge proved insufficient, as the Rams’ clutch hitting and costly Harvard mistakes down the stretch erased the lead for good.
The Crimson travels south this weekend for Ivy League showdowns against the Penn Quakers and the Princeton Tigers, respectively, on April 25 and 26.
—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.