It may have been the day after EarthFest, but Schuyler Mann was careful not to hit the trees.

After sweeping Dartmouth at home yesterday, Harvard now sits only one win away from the Red Rolfe Division title and the chance to compete in its first Ivy Championship Series since 2002.

For the distinction, finally, the Crimson can thank the two biggest bats in its lineup.

Mann hit his second and third homers over his last three games on Sunday, both coming off pitcher Stephen Perry and both easily clearing the shrubbery bordering the fences of O’Donnell Field.

The catcher combined with junior Zak Farkes to notch four huge home runs on the day, pacing a red-hot Crimson offense in a pair of critical, protracted slugfests.

For Mann, the captain, the moonshots traveled an estimated total of 820 feet—the first traveling to straightaway centerfield, and the second soaring to left-center in the fourth to make it 8-7.

“My last at-bat against Dartmouth last year was also against Perry, and I creamed one,” Mann said. “I knew he was kind of being careful with me, and he made a couple of mistakes.”

For Farkes, on the other hand, the power surge marked a pleasant return to business as usual.

After being drafted in the late rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Red Sox and setting Harvard’s career and single-season records for round-trippers last year—he hit 14 in 2004, bringing him to 22 overall—the infielder spent most of 2005 frustrated and battling shoulder problems.

So while his two bombs yesterday were only his fourth and fifth on the season, they were also his third and fourth in just six games—all six critical, must-win division contests.

“To get hot at the right time is what it’s all about for this season,” Farkes said. “It’s a short season, and to start hitting at the end, [it’s what] I was kind of telling myself to kind of get through the tough times all season. This was what I was hoping-slash-expecting to happen.”

Farkes started a big fifth inning rally in the opener by crushing an offering from Big Green ace Josh Faiola to left-center. And then, in the second game, the Boston native delivered an opposite field solo shot off Perry with two out in the first.

MAJOR PAIN

Senior Rob Wheeler made the most of the baseball team’s Senior Day by spending it in impressive, career-defining fashion.

Wheeler—who will head to the Army’s Basic Training after graduation—collected five RBI in the first contest of Sunday’s doubleheader, recording one of the more crucial and majestic drives in recent memory.