“I thought the Klimkiewicz homer was huge,” Walsh said.

Every Harvard starter but one had at least one hit and three—Lentz, sophomore Ian Wallace and freshman Lance Salsgiver, who hit a leadoff homer—had at least three.

With Salsgiver, who has never pitched in college, waiting in the wings if needed, Wahlberg retired the side in order in the ninth to ensure that Harvard’s season will last at least one more week.

“We wanted to keep playing,” Walsh said. “We’ve got too many good kids, and we’ve worked too hard to shut it down on May 5. I’m just real proud of the way they came back today.”

Harvard 5, Dartmouth 3

For all the turmoil of Saturday’s sweep at Dartmouth, one thought kept Harvard confident going into yesterday.

“We knew we had Kenon on the mound,” Walsh said. “I’ll tell you, I slept well last night. I went to bed feeling real good about today.”

Ronz (3-2) didn’t disappoint, cementing his status as staff ace by scattering seven hits and three runs over his seven innings. He outdueled Tim Grant, Dartmouth’s No. 1 starter and master of a hard slider, for the win.

Trailing 1-0 in the second, Harvard took the lead on an RBI double by Klimkiewicz and a bloop RBI single by junior Bryan Hale.

Dartmouth went ahead 3-2 in the fifth, but the Crimson responded with three runs that same inning. With the bases loaded, Hale hit a grounder to short. Dartmouth got the force at second, but second baseman Josh Bailey botched the relay throw to first, allowing Lentz and Mann to score and Hale to advance to second.

One batter later, Wallace singled home Hale for the Crimson’s fifth run.

Ronz had no walks and nine strikeouts. He struck out the side in the seventh to close out the win.

“I was pitching for my life out there,” Ronz said. “I didn’t know if I’d ever pitch again.”

Ronz might have had some extra motivation playing against Dartmouth. Walsh revealed after the game that he had been told of some murmuring by the Big Green coaches regarding Ronz’s invitation to pitch for the Cape Cod League’s Wareham Gateman two summers ago.

“I know there were some remarks that stemmed from [the fact] that they couldn’t believe that he got down to the Cape League and some of their players didn’t,” Walsh said. “Those remarks got back to me. Kenon’s a class player—he wouldn’t say anything. But he had a little extra juice going today.”