Equally impressive was the Rams pitching. Adam Perkins allowed only four hits and one run over six solid innings, improving his record to 7-1. After allowing one run in the first, Perkins was able to hold Harvard hitless until the sixth frame.

The only Crimson batter to reach base over the four-inning span was John Wolff, who reached on an error by the second baseman in the fifth inning.

“They had a lefty who was going around the plate,” Byrne said, “and when he threw strikes we just weren’t hitting them.”

Down 9-1 in the sixth inning, Harvard’s offense seemed to revive. First Vance led off the inning with a double. Brendan Byrne then grounded out, followed by Farkes, who singled, putting runners at the corners with only one down. The Crimson seemed poised at least to put a dent in Rhode Island’s lead.

All hopes of a Harvard rally were squashed with the next at-bat, however, when captain Schuyler Mann grounded into an around the horn double play.

“We knew that it was a good team, but it was important for us to get some guys into the game who hadn’t been playing much this season,” Wilson said.

The team also learned a few lessons that might help it during its crucial Ivy League season-ending series against Dartmouth this weekend.

“If we come out flat,” Byrne said, “we’ll find ourselves in a hole. We need to come out with intensity if we want to win.”