Harvard held a 3-1 lead after the third, but the Spartans tied the score at three in the bottom of the fifth. The score remained knotted there until the decisive tenth inning, when the Crimson could not stop Greensboro after a one-out double.
A ground ball single to Brent Suter gave the sophomore right fielder a chance for a play at the plate. Despite an accurate throw home, Albright—playing with a fractured thumb—could not hold on, dropping the ball and allowing Lloyd Enzor to score the winning run.
Both teams left 11 runners on base in the game, failing to capitalize on other scoring chances in the relatively low-scoring game. Harvard left runners on base in all but three innings, one of which was its one-two-three tenth.
“They had given us a couple of walks in an inning, and we just haven’t been getting teams that have been giving us any freebies,” Walsh said. “We were getting guys on but not delivering that key two-out hit.”
WINTHROP 12, HARVARD 5
Despite jumping out to a first inning 3-0 lead, the Crimson could not hold on against Winthrop, and the game quickly moved out of reach for Harvard in the seven-run loss.
Though the Crimson held a 5-3 lead after the top of the fifth, the Eagles put seven on the board in the home half of the inning, a lead which Winthrop maintained for the rest of the game. The Eagles batted around in the inning, which was fueled further by two Harvard errors.
Junior starter Zach Hofeld, who lasted four plus innings and allowed eight runs—seven earned—picked up the loss, his first decision of the year.
“We got behind on hitters, and they…took advantage of that,” Walsh said. “Other than that one bad inning, we played a pretty competitive game against them.”
Still, Harvard was not as contained as in its first game of the roadtrip. Crimson shortstop Sean O’Hara reached base in every plate appearance, going 2-for-2 with a run, an RBI, and two walks.
GARDNER-WEBB 9, HARVARD 0
Gardner-Webb pitcher Michael Hanzlik threw a one-hitter, and after the Crimson gave up four runs in the first two innings, the game was never close in Harvard’s first loss of the week.
The Crimson’s only hit was a second inning single from designated hitter Way, but the hit was erased by a 6-4-3 double play of the bat of the next hitter, senior Dan Zailskas.
Hanzlik was perfect from the second inning until the ninth, when he hit freshman pinch hitter Kyle Larrow with a pitch.
“He really just threw strikes,” Albright said. “I think he had a lot of us off-balance by throwing first-pitch curveballs or first-pitch fastballs and just kept us guessing the entire game…That guy was just on that day.”
The Crimson’s pitching could not match Hanzlik’s stellar performance, and the staff never seemed to find its rhythm. Rookie starting pitcher Andrew Ferreira gave up three runs, all earned, on four walks and two hits, and lasted only 1.1 innings.
The first relief pitcher of the afternoon, Matt Doyle, did not fare any better, giving up five runs in 3.2 innings of work. Runnin’ Bulldogs shortstop Aaron Miller delivered most of that damage, hitting a sixth-inning grand slam to move the game to 8-0. Miller led Gardner-Webb with six RBI on the day.