Junior Sean O’Hara, shown here in earlier action, knocked in Harvard’s only run on Sunday when he plated classmate Dillon O’Neill in the Crimson’s 4-1 loss. O’Hara, who has started each of his team’s 13 games at short, is batting .250 on the season and has a team-high six doubles.

In “The Bug,” Mary Chapin Carpenter sings, “Sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger. Sometimes you’re the ball.”

Against Charlotte this past weekend, the Harvard baseball team (3-10) was the ball. The 49ers (11-5) scored more runs in each of the first two games than the Crimson was able to score all weekend, as Charlotte took three straight victories in Charlotte, N.C.

“I thought Charlotte was a much stronger ballclub than us,” Crimson coach Joe Walsh said. “That was reflected in the scores. Teams down here in Carolina are very good.

We’ve got a long way to go before we can compete with them.”

CHARLOTTE 4, HARVARD 1

The third time wasn’t quite the charm for the Crimson, but Harvard’s defense stepped up yesterday, allowing a little over a sixth of the offensive production it had given up the day before.

“I thought it was good that we bounced back a little,” sophomore Marcus Way said. “Defense made some really good plays. I was really pleased. It was a good one to end on.”

With Way on the mound, the Crimson held the 49ers scoreless in the first three innings before finally surrendering a run in fourth.

“We had a very well-pitched game,” Walsh said.

Soon after, Harvard picked up a run of its own when junior Sean O’Hara knocked in classmate Dillon O’Neill to even the score at 1-1.

But after Way left the mound after the fifth, sophomore Will Keuper took the ball and found that the Charlotte batters had a few runs left in them. Keuper allowed two runs in his lone inning of work.

By that point the Crimson bats—which had reached double digits in runs the day before—had dried out. Harvard’s offense was unable to solve 49ers pitcher Kelly McLain, who picked up the save in Charlotte’s third-straight win.

CHARLOTTE 18, HARVARD 10

Crimson freshman Kyle Larrow picked the wrong day to hit his first collegiate home run and pick up his first three RBI. Had he held off his offensive outburst until Sunday, the Crimson might have been able to head home with a victory.

Unfortunately for Harvard, the Crimson’s best showing at the plate of the season came on a day when its opponents hit the voting age in runs—half of which were scored in the third inning.