Co-captain Bryan Hale, trailed by sophomore Zak Farkes, races around the basepaths to score the game-winning run on a Trey Hendricks walk-off double in Game 2 against Brown. Right, Hale is congratulated by senior Jason Brown after scoring.

Don’t call them the Cardiac Kids.

That nickname is taken—and the Harvard baseball team, which has recently learned that no late deficit is too steep to overcome, seems to be taking things easy, anyway.

“It’s just another Harvard game,” laughed Harvard head coach Joe Walsh who, moments after an Ian Wallace suicide squeeze beat Brown 9-8 in the bottom of the ninth yesterday afternoon, watched his players celebrate, slap hands, give hugs, and generally go nuts. “We had it all the way.”

Harvard (18-15-1, 11-5 Ivy), which dropped the first of four to Brown in a 9-6 Saturday loss, came back to take three in a row against the third-place Bears (13-21, 8-8 Ivy) on Saturday and yesterday afternoons. And that run was punctuated with plenty of late fireworks and dramatic comebacks.

On Saturday afternoon, the Crimson overcame an improbable six-run deficit—they were down 9-3 in the bottom of the eighth—to beat the Bears 10-9 on senior Trey Hendricks’ walk-off ground rule double in the bottom of the ninth. Junior Schuyler Mann went 3-for-4 in the win.

On Sunday, Hendricks pitched a complete game, giving up one earned run and striking out eight to earn a 5-2 victory in Game 1 of the second doubleheader. But yesterday’s Game 2 provided the rest of the drama.

After giving up three runs—and the lead—to Brown in the top of the ninth, the Crimson had the bottom of the order up with an 8-5 deficit to overcome

After a leadoff fly-out to center, seven consecutive Harvard hitters reached base, pushing four runs across—capped by Wallace’s game-winning bunt down the first baseline.

With that, the Crimson held onto its two-game deficit in the standings to Red Rolfe division rival Dartmouth—which beat Yale twice yesterday, 11-1 and 11-0—going into next weekend’s pivotal four-game, Ivy season-ending showdown against the Big Green.

Harvard will have to win three of four to tie Dartmouth in the standings at season’s end. There is no tiebreaker based on head-to-head record, so the teams would have to play the division title out. If the Crimson sweeps, it will take the Red Rolfe division outright.

Princeton, which plays Cornell in four games next weekend, just needs to take one to clinch the Lou Gehrig division.

The Ivy League Championship series will be held May 8-9.

HARVARD 9, BROWN 8

Harvard scored four in the ninth off three Brown pitchers to beat the Bears 9-8 yesterday afternoon at O’Donnell Field, providing fans with plenty of late excitement.

Despite leading off the bottom of the ninth inning with its 7-8-9 hitters at the plate, the Crimson overcame its three-run deficit thanks, in part, to costly mistakes by the opposing team. Brown committed an error, hit Hendricks with a pitch, and let three Harvard hitters reach base on walks.