YALE 3, HARVARD 2 (8 inn.)
After Harvard went down quickly in the top of the eighth, Yale right fielder Joe Lubanski came up big for the Bulldogs, leading off the Yale half of the inning with a triple.
Junior pitcher Zack Olson intentionally walked the next two batters. But a sacrifice fly out on the subsequent at-bat from Yale second baseman Jacob Hunter proved to be the difference-maker, allowing Lubanski to reach home and secure the Bulldogs’ first conference win of the season, 3-2.
“Yale put together a nice little rally and were able to come away with the win,” McGuiggan said. “We lost, but it wasn’t one of those losses where you can blame it on one play or one player. Yale just put together a couple of good innings.”
Harvard took its lone lead of the game in the seventh when senior second baseman Jeff Reynolds scored on a sacrifice fly from freshman catcher Ethan Ferreira. But the Bulldogs returned fire in the bottom of the frame, with Neil driving in Hunter to tie up the game at two runs apiece and to send the contest into extra innings.
“It’s definitely tough being away and knowing that Yale has that last at-bat,” McGuiggan said. “No matter what Yale always has the final say. It puts you on edge because you don’t want to be the guy that makes a big mistake. That said, I think we approached [the extra inning] loosely and trusted in our abilities.”
Yale started off scoring with senior southpaw Brent Suter on the mound in the first inning, as first baseman Kevin Fortunato drove in Hunter with a single.
The Crimson loaded the bases in the third, fourth, and sixth innings, but was only able to come away with one run, stranding a total 12 runners on base in the first game of the day.
Harvard tied up the game, 1-1, in the fourth inning, with McGuiggan reaching home on an at-bat from senior catcher John Smart.
“That first loss was a tough one to swallow,” McGuiggan said. “But we did our best not to let it ruin the whole day.”
—Staff writer Catherine E. Coppinger can be reached at ccoppinger@college.harvard.edu.