Junior pitcher Brent Suter, shown above in previous action, and the pitching staff couldn’t propel the Crimson to a single win over Jacksonville State this past weekend. Playing away from home, Harvard failed to come up with an answer to the Gamecock’s offense. The Crimson was blown out in both games on Friday but put up more of a challenge in the two games on Sunday.
After losing its first two games of the season by a wide margin on Friday, the Harvard men’s baseball team fought back on Sunday but fell to Jacksonville State in two nail-biting losses.
The Crimson (0-4) played two double-headers against the Gamecocks (7-3) at Rudy Abbott Field in Jacksonville, Ala., with Harvard hoping to start the season off on a strong note.
“We wanted to gain some momentum to boost our confidence going into next week for Spring Break when we are playing every day,” captain Tyler Albright said. “We did some things right, and we did some things wrong. Now we know what we need to work on. It’s real tough coming home after losing four games, but we have some time in the bubble to practice this week before we go into Spring Break.”
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, HARVARD 4
A late rally in the sixth inning fell short as the Crimson lost the last game of the series against Jacksonville State.
In the top of the sixth down 5-2, Harvard made a charge. The inning started with Albright being hit by a pitch, followed up by a triple to center field from junior Marcus Way, which brought Albright home.
Junior Jeff Reynolds had an RBI single to bring the Crimson back within one, putting the tying run on first and no outs.
But Harvard could not score another run after freshman Jake McGuiggan grounded into a double play to end the frame.
Junior Todd Hornsby ended up shutting down the Crimson in the seventh and final inning to pick up his third save of the series, and the Gamecocks swept the weekend, four games to none.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 5, HARVARD 4
Harvard dropped the first game of Sunday’s double-header in a close 5-4 loss. From the start of the game, neither side was able to pull away.
The Crimson scored two runs in the third, with McGuiggan crossing home on a wild pitch, and O’Neill following right after on a RBI groundout from senior Sam Franklin. But Jacksonville State responded in the bottom of the frame with a two-run double from first baseman Erik Underwood.
With the score tied at four apiece entering the bottom of the eighth, senior Blake Seguin tripled to put the winning run for the Gamecocks 90-feet away with only one out, and a Bishop sac-fly put the home team ahead for good.
Hornsby came into close the game and ended up striking out the side to ensure victory for Jacksonville State.
Freshman Bradley Raulston earned the win, while junior Will Keuper got the loss despite only giving up one run in three innings.
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