Shawn Haviland, meanwhile, was coach Joe Walsh’s choice to start the decisive game. Although he tired in the seventh and final inning, Haviland surrendered only three earned runs—along with three more unearned—to improve to 6-1 on the year.
“I actually thought about throwing in him the nine-inning game, the next game [of the series],” Walsh said. “But we were so banged up, I thought we better just suck it up and try to win this one game. We had to lay it all on the line, and Haviland came up big for us.”
Yet it may have been Steffan Wilson—the Crimson’s everyday third baseman and closer—who had the most interesting experience on the day. The freshman arrived roughly 30 minutes after the game started due to mandatory attendance in Expository Writing. After running into the dugout, he immediately took over in the field for classmate Taylor Meehan and later relieved Haviland to record the contest’s last out with a man on second.
DARTMOUTH 8, HARVARD 5
With the division crown in the bag—and although the Crimson lost 8-5—Joe Walsh used the last game of the regular season to have a little fun with his lineup card.
Second baseman Brendan Byrne took the field in left, while Matt Vance started at short for the second day in a row. Seniors Rob Wheeler and Jeff Friedman played first and center, respectively, as freshman Griff Jenkins and sophomore Rob Nelson both received long-awaited starts at second and third.
Friedman collected two hits and one run, bringing him to three hits and five at-bats and three scores on the day. Freshman Brad Unger started, allowing seven runs and just two earned while fanning five in 3 and 2/3 innings of work.
The Big Green’s Chris Carpenter and Nick Peay combined to hold Harvard to five runs.
“Our big concern,” Walsh said, “is getting our pitching back into shape. We’ve been getting hit a little bit, and pitching will be the name of the game this weekend.”
The Crimson will face Cornell in the ICS, a three-game series, starting this Saturday at noon. All games will be played at home at O’Donnell Field, thanks to the strength of Harvard’s record.
—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.