The Crimson allowed two more runs in the ninth inning, pushing the game to a three-run margin.

Though he admitted that the team was discouraged after the first game, Walsh would not attribute this second loss of the afternoon to the team’s mentality.

“It’s not always morale,” he said. “Sometimes it’s how you play the game.”

COLUMBIA 24, HARVARD 1

If Harvard had plated any other number of runs, the score of the day’s first contest would have read more like that of a football game.

The Lions scored in every frame, and after the team held a 6-0 second-inning lead, the game already appeared out of reach.

“We didn’t play well in the first game—that’s for sure,” Albright said. “We fell apart. Hitting, defense, and pitching weren’t there.”

Perhaps the game’s most compelling story was a bump in the road to recovery for junior starter Max Perlman, making his second start of the season after Tommy John surgery. Perlman increased his workload to 1.1 innings, allowing five earned runs—including a first-inning three-run home run.

“It’s been a while since he’s pitched,” Walsh said. “He’s had basically four innings in the last three years—three innings last year and [a one-inning appearance last weekend] under his belt.”

As the game progressed, the Lions continued piling on the offense. With a 19-run lead in the top of the seventh­—the game’s last inning­—Pizzano hit a grand slam off of freshman reliever Robert Wineski.

Columbia had 24 hits to match its run total in the game. The Crimson could manage only four, and magnified its troubles with three errors.

Harvard’s relief pitching also struggled with command, surrendering eight walks in the game.

“We couldn’t get ahead of guys, and when you can’t get ahead of hitters, you’re forced to throw fastballs,” Albright said. “They were clearly just waiting for a fastball to come right down the middle, and just geared up for it and hit it.”