The six total runs scored by Harvard in the inning were more than it has scored in all of the seventh innings this year combined.

“Their starting pitcher did a really good job,” Way said. “We finally got to him that inning and then got into their bullpen. We finally got to him and got to face somebody else. That was big, and we were able to string a few hits together.”

FEVER PITCH

In the first three frames, Harvard had four fielding errors, while the Minutemen notched six hits—one of them a homerun—and four runs.

It was time for a pitching change.

But then every inning for the rest of the game, Crimson coach Joe Walsh called in a new hurler from the bullpen to bring onto the mound, making it so a total of seven different pitchers entered the game at one point. The bullpen kept its opponents in check, keeping UMass scoreless the rest of the way.

“We don’t want to burn things out on a Wednesday when we’ve got to bounce back in a couple of days [in its games over the weekend],” Way said.

Yet having multiple pitchers in a contest is not a new concept for Harvard. The Crimson has brought in at least one reliever in every game except for one so far this season.

Furthermore, the rapid pitching changes in Wednesday’s Beanpot marked the fourth time this year that more than five hurlers were used in a game—Mar. 28 against Holy Cross saw 10.

“I think it shows the kind of depth we have pitching-wise, to have guys contribute like that,” Way said.

—Staff writer Taryn I. Kurcz can be reached at tkurcz13@college.harvard.edu.