Shown here in earlier action, senior designated hitter Marcus Way went 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the Harvard baseball team’s 6-2 win over Cornell on Friday. But Way’s fortunes mirrored those of his team, and the senior went hitless in the Crimson’s three straight losses to end the weekend.

Despite entering the first weekend of Ivy play with just two wins under its belt, the Harvard baseball team came out strong, earning a 6-2 victory over Cornell on Saturday in the weekend’s first matchup. But the Crimson went on to drop its next three contests, beginning with a defeat at the hands of the Big Red in the second game of its first doubleheader, 12-7.

Princeton swept Harvard on Sunday by scores of 12-6 and 4-1, respectively, to round out another tough weekend on the road for the Crimson.

“Because it was our first Ivy League weekend, we really wanted to make a statement in [the first] game,” said sophomore first baseman Steven Dill. “The first game of Ivy season is always huge.”

The Crimson bats came alive in both matchups against Cornell, and the team outhit its Big Red counterparts, 22-17, for a total of 13 runs on the day.

“We really haven’t had too many offensive struggles this year,” said junior third baseman Kyle Larrow. “Our bats have been going every game, which is good as far as keeping us in the game…. From a building standpoint, hitting is something we’re going to try to ride in Ivy League series and hopefully get a lot of wins.”

After Harvard’s lengthy roadtrip from Ithaca to Princeton, the Tigers outhit the Crimson (3-19, 1-3 Ivy), 16-12, on Sunday, as junior captain Andrew Ferreira and freshman Tanner Anderson picked up losses on the mound for the Crimson.

But despite the losses, the team remains positive about its chances as it enters the heat of Ivy season.

“I feel pretty good about our team after this weekend,” freshman centerfielder Mike Martin said. “The games we were losing, I felt we weren’t being outmatched. We were just not executing up to our potential. Wins will come once we start stringing hits together.”

PRINCETON 12, HARVARD 6

For the third time on the weekend, Harvard took an early lead over one of its Ancient Eight rivals. But Princeton (9-10, 3-1) scoring streaks quickly shifted the tide in favor of the Tigers.

“We got a lot of hits off of [Princeton pitcher Kevin Link]. We just couldn’t string them together,” Martin said.

Sophomore left fielder Jack Colton got Harvard on the board in the second inning, scoring on classmate Jake McGuiggan’s sacrifice fly.

But Princeton responded in the bottom half of the second. After third baseman Sam Mulroy was hit by a pitch, back-to-back RBI hits gave the Tigers the 2-1 edge.

Senior second baseman Jeff Reynolds hit his second home run of the weekend in the third inning, and Martin also hit one out of the park in the ninth, sending home three runners. But Princeton’s five-run sixth quieted any Harvard hopes of a comeback.

“We gave them a lot of 3-1 counts,” Martin said. “And they went up there and hit doubles and triples.”