Steffan wilson is a rookie. Really.

He just doesn’t seem like one, already batting in the heart of the Crimson’s potent lineup in his first year with the team. He doesn’t act like one, easily handling the pressure of filling the void left by last season’s Ivy batting champ, Trey Hendricks ’04.And he sure doesn’t hit like one. Wilson is batting .362, second-best on the team, and leads the squad with a whopping .710 slugging percentage. He’s tied for the team lead in hits (25) and paces Harvard in RBI (21), total bases (49), and home runs (5). He can pitch a little, too: two saves in three appearances, and a 2.25 ERA, say so.

Wilson’s numbers, composure, and comfort with Division I collegiate play belie the fact that he’s spent barely a month in a Crimson uniform. But just after Wilson’s breakout weekend March 20-21—during which he batted .588 through four games, going 10-for-17 and swatting his first two collegiate home runs—a flash of inexperience reveals itself.

“The back of my neck is the worst,” Wilson says with a grimace. “Check out that farmer’s tan.”

The freshman from State College, Pa., shows off a pair of muscular, tomato-red forearms, a little souvenir from Harvard’s Florida road trip.

Finally, proof that he’s actually a rookie. A veteran would have known to bring sunscreen.

Wilson may have come back from Florida with a nasty sunburn, but it was opposing pitchers who got scorched. In the team’s four games in the Sunshine State, Wilson finished with 10 RBI and 20 total bases. He had two triples, four runs scored, and a weekend slugging percentage of 1.176 as the Crimson split the series with Bethune-Cookman.

“I’m just amazed,” says senior Rob Wheeler of Wilson’s performance. “We were facing some pretty decent pitching, and he went out there and just crushed the ball.”

For his efforts, Wilson was honored as both Ivy Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week. His slugging show was not just impressive for his quick adjustment to the college game; it was also well-timed. With junior Zak Farkes—the 2004 league leader in home runs and Harvard’s single-season record-holder in the category—out with a strained right shoulder, the Crimson needed to be able to rely on other sources of run support.

It was a lot of pressure to put on a freshman, especially early in the season, especially one already trying to prove that he deserved that spot in the starting lineup. But it was nothing compared to the demands coming from Wilson himself.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he says. “And it just started happening.”

* * *

The Florida trip was where Wilson caught everyone’s attention. But it really only took him the first two games of the season to figure out how to make an impact. In the season opener, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. The second game he reached base twice on walks, but still remained hitless.

On the third day, the freshman caught fire. Wilson slammed a two-RBI triple and a double in the Crimson’s 9-1 win over Minnesota on March 13, and he hasn’t stopped hitting since.

So much for needing time to adjust.