The Crimson looked poised to score again in the fourth with runners on first and second and nobody out, but Harvard—in a pattern that repeated itself all weekend—couldn’t come up with the timely hit. Klimkiewicz was caught stealing and Mackey grounded into a double play to end the inning.
After plating two more runs in the fifth, the Crimson bats went cold, as the Quakers sent them down 1-2-3 in each of the last four innings.
Meanwhile, Penn touched the Harvard bullpen for three runs in the bottom of the eighth for the win.
It was the second time in three starts that Hendricks left with a lead, only to see the Crimson lose.
“[The bullpen] got put in a couple of tough situations where you either are the hero or you kind of want to forget about it,” Morgalis said.
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Harvard 11, Penn 6
The Crimson had rallies end twice when players were caught stealing with two outs but Harvard still had enough offense to take the victory in its conference opener. Morgalis, a transfer from Notre Dame, went 5.2 innings, giving up six runs—three earned—to pick up his first collegiate win in his introduction to Ivy baseball.
“It’s like any other conference,” Morgalis said. “The games mean a whole lot more.”
Harvard turned a 5-3 lead into a 10-3 advantage with a five-run sixth that started with a Hendricks double and featured a two-RBI single by sophomore shortstop Ian Wallace and an RBI double from Farkes.
Penn came back with three runs in its half of the sixth, but captain and closer Barry Wahlberg came on and struck out Andrew McCreery, who had earlier hit a three-run homer, to end the Quaker rally. Wahlberg shut the door in the seventh to secure the victory.
Wallace and Salsgiver each went 2-for-3 with three RBI and scored twice, while Farkes had two hits, two RBI and scored a run.
Every Crimson batter recorded at least one hit.
Now that the Crimson has readjusted to the cold weather—which was especially hard on relievers called upon to enter the game on short notice—after a spring break trip to Florida, it should be prepared for a stretch of nine consecutive games in the Boston area, beginning Wednesday when it hosts Holy Cross at 3 p.m.
—Staff writer Alan G. Ginsberg can be reached at aginsber@fas.harvard.edu.