After dropping four straight games to Jacksonville State in its first matchup of the season, the Harvard baseball team (1-12, 0-0 Ivy) looked to rebound as it continued its spring break trip with seven games on the road in as many days. The transition to playing outside against a southern lineup that saw friendlier conditions in preseason proved to be difficult, as the Crimson played to a 1-6 record on the week, picking up the lone win against Kennesaw State on Wednesday.

“We got off to a tough start,” said senior right-handed pitcher Zach Hofeld. “We weren’t playing the kind of baseball we know we are capable of, but we’ve started to turn things around. We stuck together, believed in ourselves, and got a win on Wednesday…[Despite some] tough losses, we know as a team we’re getting better and are on the rise.”

“Overall we’ve progressed throughout the week and gotten better on defense,” Albright continued. “We have a lot more confidence now…The most important thing is not hang our heads or anything. Spring break is tough. We [travel south] and play a lot of really strong teams.”

GEORGIA STATE 9, HARVARD 3

Despite an impressive first three innings that put the Crimson ahead, 3-2, Georgia State (16-4, 3-0 CAA) came back to defeat Harvard on Thursday. After tying the game, 3-3, the Panthers went up, 5-3 at the start of the fifth, when redshirt junior Joey Wood hit one out of the park. This was a lead the Panthers would not relinquish, as Harvard fell to its penultimate southern opponent, 9-3.

“The key for us is hitting,” Albright said. “The defense is coming along and pitchers are doing great, but we need to…produce runs. We’ve been getting guys on base, we just haven’t been getting them in home.”

Junior second baseman Jeff Reynolds led the Crimson with Harvard’s only home run of the game and had two hits on the day. Senior centerfielder Dillon O’Neill and sophomore first baseman Danny Moskovits also contributed two hits each for the Crimson.

HARVARD 10, KENNESAW STATE 6

Though Harvard found itself down, 5-1, after seven innings of play, a late offensive surge lead the Crimson to its first win of the season on Wednesday at Kennesaw State (12-8, 0-0 ASC).

“Once one person started hitting well, it was contagious,” Albright said. “Everyone started hitting well. This something we definitely want to replicate.”

Hofeld kept the Crimson in the game from the mound before the hitters took over, allowing just one hit in four innings of relief.

“When I [entered the game] in the fourth, we were down, 5-1,” Hofeld said. “I was trying to keep us in the game, to take some of [Kennesaw State’s] momentum and give it to us…to battle out there and go ahead of hitters in the counts. Our hitters did a tremendous job.”

“Against Kennesaw State, our pitchers threw really well,” Albright said. “They threw a lot of strikes and we have a lot of confidence in them.”

After a Moskovits double allowed Reynolds to score in the eighth, Albright sent the sophomore and junior first baseman Marcus Way home to close the gap, 5-4. Freshman shortstop Jake McGuiggan doubled to send home two more runs, putting the Crimson ahead, 6-5. From there, it was all Harvard, as the Crimson scored four times and allowed the Owls just one run in the ninth to secure the victory.

MERCER 14, HARVARD 3