“I’m obviously not complacent with where we are right now, but I’m very proud with the strides people have been making,” sophomore outfielder Brandon Kregel said. “Freshmen have to act as if they’ve always been here. They’re on a really quick learning curve because we can’t afford for them to develop slowly.”
MCNEESE STATE 10, HARVARD 0
Although the Cowboys only outhit the Crimson by five in the first-ever game between the two teams, the McNeese St. bats came through when it mattered most en route to a 10-0 shutout in a seven inning contest.
The big blows came in the form of two four-run innings in the first and the fifth. After the first three batters of the game reached base, junior Taylor Drake drove an offering from senior pitcher Matt Doyle over the left field wall for a grand slam.
Four innings later, a triple from junior Matt Williams brought in three more. After Harvard coach Bill Decker replaced Doyle with senior Jordan Haviland, a Cowboys single plated the fourth run of the frame.
Crimson pitchers had trouble retiring the middle of the McNeese St. order all day, as the number two through five hitters accounted for nine of their 12 hits.
Kregel paced the Harvard offense, going three-for-four against the Cowboys pitching. Junior outfielder Jeff Hajdin also posted two hits on the game.
McNeese senior Trey McGee picked up the win with five innings of five-hit ball, while Doyle was credited with the loss.
TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 7, HARVARD 6
The Crimson started off strong and built a five-run lead in search of its first win since the start of the season. But Harvard could not withstand an Islanders (11-9) rally in the middle innings and ultimately fell in a close one, 7-6.
The Crimson offense had its most successful day of the year, amassing season highs of seven runs and 14 hits, thanks in large part to standout performances from three individuals.
Junior shortstop Carlton Bailey went a sparkling five-for-five in the leadoff spot, and sophomore pitcher Tanner Anderson registered a single in each of his four at-bats. Freshman third baseman Mitch Klug also totaled three hits in what were career highs for each player.
Harvard got off to a good start by scoring two runs in the second inning off RBI singles from Anderson and Bailey.
Things looked bright for Harvard when Anderson made it through four innings without allowing a run. In the top of the fifth, the Crimson loaded the bases with no outs and tacked on three additional runs
But the tide turned swiftly in the next two frames, as the A&M-Corpus Christi offense let looses for seven runs in the fifth and the sixth, with the big blow coming in the form of a grand slam from senior outfielder Eric Weiss over the right field fence.
“We put the ball in play, and we were able to string hits together to manufacture runs,” Kregel said. “We gained a lot of momentum early in the game, but a couple small things caused us to lose the momentum, and Corpus Christi really took advantage of that.”
After Anderson exited with Harvard down two, sophomore pitcher Matt Timoney entered and kept the Crimson in the game by holding the Islanders scoreless for the entirety of the contest.
Although the Crimson scratched across a run in the eighth, the team could not get anything going in the ninth and fell by one.
— Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at dsteinbach@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @BigBach12.