FULLERTON, Calif.—It took a three-year postseason drought, a mild California night, and, between the raucous 3,604 in attendance and a nationwide television audience tuning in, throngs of eager spectators to bring Harvard College back to the world of big-time college baseball.

And then reality bit back.

Cal State Fullerton (42-15) looked every bit the defending national champions, sending the Crimson (29-16) to the loser’s bracket behind a crushing 19-0 score.

Harvard head coach Joe Walsh called the defeat “probably the most difficult loss of my career.”

“We got hammered tonight,” he said. “I’m sure these guys who are here are just going to have to bounce back tomorrow. I thought things got away from us.”

The Titans rode seven dominant innings from sidearming freshman Wes Roemer, whose whip-like delivery and devastating curveball baffled Harvard hitters all night. The Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year retired the first twelve Harvard batters he faced, allowing only two hits and striking out five overall.

“He was busting us inside,” Walsh said. “The ball was running in a little bit.”

“I don’t think we’ve seen a guy like that this year,” he said, “who kind of pitched so much inside.”

But for a five-run Fullerton third inning, Crimson starter Mike Morgalis showed flashes of strength, striking out five and holding the Titans’ best slugger, DH Sergio Pedroza, hitless.

And yet Harvard’s loftiest upset aspirations disappeared with a low, inside Morgalis fastball that Fullerton outfielder Danny Dorn golfed into the netting high above right field, and which appeared to rise with the wind.

“I didn’t really think he got all of it,” Walsh said of Dorn’s third-inning grand slam. “I thought it was a pretty good pitch. It kind of seemed to take off.”

That slam broke a 0-0 tie in the third inning and built the foundation for a thorough and relentless offensive outburst.

Dorn added a two-run shot in the sixth just minutes after Harvard coach Joe Walsh replaced Morgalis with reliever Jason Brown. Defensive jitters also cursed the Crimson, whose three errors—the first two allowed runners to reach base before the Dorn slam—prolonged the Titan attack.

Had Harvard converted an out on Fullerton shortstop Blake Davis’ third-inning leadoff bunt, which became a two-base hit after an errant throw hit the dugout, or made the play on Titans second baseman Justin Turner’s grounder to third, Dorn might not have batted in the third at all.

“We gave up too many outs in that third inning,” Walsh said. “And things just got away from us from there.”