Playing in a Beanpot consolation game yesterday on a picturesque spring afternoon, it would have been easy to get caught up in the majesty of Fenway Park. But as much as the Harvard baseball team enjoyed its historic surroundings, it knew it had to get down to business and focus on the game.
The Crimson (8-22, 6-4 Ivy League) began strong but dropped its second Beanpot contest, 9-5, to Boston College (23-12, 5-3 ACC), failing to hold up late after building a 3-2 lead. Still, Harvard coach Joe Walsh did not blame his squad’s defeat on the distraction of playing in a big league ballpark.
“It’s still baseball, and I think [the excitement] wears off a little bit after the first pitch,” he said. “You’re playing another college team.”
Despite a good effort from sophomore starter Zach Hofeld and strong defensive play, the Crimson struggled to match its opponent’s offense against Eagles freshman hurler Mike Dennhardt. The hard-throwing righty—who, accoring to Walsh, reached speeds above 90 mph in high school—struck out three of the first six batters he faced and allowed four earned runs over 5.1 innings to improve to 3-0 on the season.
“[Dennhardt] was throwing pretty well,” Walsh said. “Give him a lot of credit, he was shutting us down and we really didn’t get a lot of hits off of him.”
Harvard only collected three base hits in the first seven innings, but aggressive baserunning and intelligent moves kept the Crimson in the contest.
Down 2-0 in the fourth, sophomore center fielder Dillon O’Neill led off the inning with a walk, giving the Crimson speed on the basepaths. A timely hit-and-run pulled BC shortstop Garret Smith towards the bag at second, leaving him unable to cleanly field a grounder from senior Taylor Meehan.
Walsh promptly called a double steal, setting up senior shortstop Matt Rogers, who delivered with a drive to the 379-foot marker in left-center field to plate both runners.
After a passed ball and walk to captain Harry Douglas, Harvard again turned to its legs to generate a run. Douglas took off for second, prompting a throw from Eagles catcher Harry Darling, which easily beat the runner. But Rogers alertly broke from third, catching BC offguard and sliding in safely to give the Crimson a 3-2 lead.
“We got our running game going pretty [well],” Walsh said. “When I saw the linescore up there—three runs on one hit—I was like, ‘This is the kind of baseball I enjoy playing.’”
Unfortunately for the Crimson, the offense would go cold after the fourth inning.
The Eagles tied the score on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame, and chased Hofeld before he could record an out in the fifth. As Harvard brought in a slew of relievers to preserve the weekend rotation, the squad found itself at the mercy of a BC offense that has averaged nearly eight runs a game this season.
Back-to-back doubles by Micky Wiswall and Mike Belfiore—the Eagles’ top two RBI men—and a single off the Green Monster gave BC a 6-3 lead against sophomore Anthony Nutter. Although Douglas responded for the Crimson with a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, the pitching staff could not quell the Eagles attack.
While the 9-5 loss proved a disappointing end to the 2009 Beanpot, Harvard took advantage of the unique experience of competing at Fenway. Walsh worked six seniors into the starting lineup and brought fourth-year pitcher Ryan Watson to the mound, rewarding the upperclassmen for their hard work. The seniors responded, accounting for all five of the Crimson’s hits and four of its runs, as Meehan and Rogers led the pack with two hits apiece.
While Rogers had arguably the best day at the plate with two RBI, the senior’s defensive performance was perhaps most impressive, as the regular left fielder filled in at shortstop for injured sophomore Sean O’Hara. After O’Hara became a late scratch due to a sore knee, Rogers stepped in seamlessly, fielding his position in veteran form.
“Anytime you get that first ball after having not been in the infield you are a little nervous,” Rogers admitted. “But after getting into the rhythm of the game, that [feeling] goes away.”
By flashing the leather and connecting on big hits, Rogers looked at home on a major league diamond. But Harvard as a team must connect more pieces if it hopes to produce more victories. With six Ivy League contests in as many days, the Crimson will look to get back to the business of winning as it enters a critical stretch of the Ancient Eight season.
—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.
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