Stark white plumes from jet liners streaked across yesterday’s dazzling sky and breezy warmth drifted from the Charles River.

So when Harvard baseball coach Joe Walsh cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes with fatigue—“It was a real bad day of baseball,” he said solemnly—shortly after salvaging a Sunday split with defending Ivy League champion Princeton (10-15, 5-3 Ivy), the day went surprisingly chilly.

Harvard (14-8, 7-1) held onto a one-game Red Rolfe division lead after losing 7-2 to the Tigers in Game 1 of the doubleheader and winning a 13-8 error-fest in Game 2.

Despite the split, Walsh remained disappointed.

“We had breakdowns on the bases, on hit plays, our execution on bunt plays,” he said. “We just didn’t play good baseball today.”

Of Harvard’s winning scoring output of 13 in Game 2, only seven earned runs—two of them on Josh Klimkiewicz’ opposite-field moonshot in the fifth—counted against Princeton’s three pitchers.

The Tigers committed an astounding eight errors during Game 2—five by middle infielders Spencer Lucian (three) and Aaron Prince (two). During one stretch in the seventh inning, errors were committed on four consecutive Crimson balls put in play.

“I don’t feel really good about wins like that,” Walsh said.

Showdowns against city rivals Boston College and Northeastern take place tomorrow and Wednesday afternoons at O’Donnell Field at 3 p.m. before Ivy League action resumes versus Yale on Saturday.

HARVARD 13, PRINCETON 8

Klimkiewicz’ hammer-swing on a high and away fastball—which came to a complete stop somewhere in the Gordon Tennis Center parking lot—reinvigorated a stale Harvard offense in the fifth inning of Game 2 and gave the Crimson a 5-5 tied score, not to mention some relief for Walsh.

“Up until then, we really had been having things gift-wrapped to us,” Walsh said. “And finally, we earned one on the two-run homer.”

Indeed, Princeton’s defense in the inning prior to that play—with a failed double-play attempt on Crimson freshman Matt Vance and a dropped ground ball on junior Morgan Brown—led to two runs. Errors also led to Harvard’s first score in inning three.

But the worst of Princeton’s defensive disgrace had yet to arrive.

Consecutive bunt singles in the sixth by Vance and Brown loaded the bases and, after a bases-loaded walk to Harvard pinch hitter Frank Herrmann scored the go-ahead run for the Crimson, Princeton pitcher Steven Miller yielded a gap double to junior Lance Salsgiver. Harvard exited the inning with a 9-5 lead but had picked up a tip on bunting against a wobbly Princeton infield.