The sophomore pitcher allowed nine hits and three runs in six innings before being replaced by classmate Will Keuper.
“We give him the ball, and he always comes through for us,” Albright said of Suter. “When he does that, it brings a lot of confidence to our hitters.”
And Harvard’s hitters helped Suter out too. Before the second-year hurler even hit the mound in the bottom of the first, the Crimson had mounted a one-run lead thanks to the bat and speed of junior Sam Franklin. Shortly after junior Dillon O’Neill had been picked off, Franklin hit a deep ball down the right field line for what looked to be a triple. But a throwing error by Yale’s rightfielder allowed Franklin to reach home plate for the first run of the game.
The Crimson bats wouldn’t strike again until the top of the third, by which time the Bulldogs had tied the game off a run by Charlie Neil. Once again, Franklin managed to score off a triple—this time from classmate Sean O’Hara—to put Harvard back up by one. O’Hara himself scored the next play on a sacrifice bunt attempt from Albright—though the junior catcher was safe at first thanks to a Yale error.
“We had some timely hitting,” Walsh said. “A good squeeze bunt by Ty Albright.”
With a sophomore holding court on the mound, the juniors continued to light it up at the plate. After freshman Kyle Larrow advanced to first base after being hit by a pitch and to second on a wild pitch, O’Neill sent the rookie home with a left-field single. Quieter was the impact the junior made by stealing second base two batters later. The stolen base allowed the outfielder to score when O’Hara hit a ground-rule double. The shortstop, who was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs, scored off an Albright single the next play.
“It kind of all came together in the first game,” Walsh said.
The Crimson kept on rolling until the seventh inning, when the Bulldogs were able to put together a late-game rally, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut in half a six-run lead. But Harvard still managed finish off the game with a convincing three-run win, one that would prove a stark contrast from the next game.
“We’re going to try to emulate the first and learn from the second,” Albright said.
—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.