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Baseball Takes Two of Three in Opening Tournament

Harvard sweeps Saturday before falling to Kansas State yesterday

O'Hara Rules
Richard F. Taylor

Junior shortstop Sean O’Hara, shown here in earlier action, got his season started with a bang this weekend, hitting three doubles and bringing three runners home in a 9-6 win over Notre Dame on Saturday.

The last time the Harvard baseball team went two-for-three in its opening weekend, most of its current starters were in high school.

After a weekend in DeLand, Fla. at the Bright House Invitational, the Crimson (2-1) took home more wins in one Saturday than the 2008 and ’09 squads captured in both of their opening weekends put together.

“We definitely came out ready to play,” sophomore pitcher Brent Suter said. “We had a winning mindset.”

KANSAS STATE 6, HARVARD 1

Opening weekend optimism wasn’t enough against a top-heavy Wildcats batting order—especially junior Carter Jurica—who had four RBI for Kansas State.

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“We didn’t beat ourselves,” Suter said. “We just ran into a really good ball club.”

Early in the game, Harvard seemed poised to take its third victory of the weekend. Sophomore second baseman Jeff Reynolds hit a home run in the top of the first and junior pitcher Eric Eadington held the Wildcats without a run in his first two innings back from an injury.

“It was good to be out there again,” Eadington said, “good to be healthy again.”

But Reynolds’ home run was all the offense the Crimson would get on Sunday. Kansas State would hit its stride soon enough, and Jurica’s two-run single in the third shifted the scoreboard in the Wildcats’ favor.

But the score stayed close for two more innings, and Eadington, who took the loss, left the game after the fifth with Harvard only down by one.

“I thought Eadington pitched really well,” Walsh said. “‘Boomer’ as we call him—flashing our upper-80 fastball.”

But Jurica struck again in the seventh with a two-run homer. The long ball proved to be the back-breaker for the Crimson, which allowed four runs in the inning en route to its first loss of the season.

HARVARD 6, STETSON 5

Fresh off its first season-opening win since 2007, the Crimson batters didn’t miss a beat against the Hatters, notching two runs in each of the first three innings to take a 6-1 lead that would withstand a late Stetson rally.

Junior Dillon O’Neill had the Hatters concerned early as he stole third base before a catcher error allowed the outfielder to find home plate.

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