In a game with little offense, the Lions took advantage of timely hitting to coast to a 5-0 victory in both squads’ first Ivy League test of the year.

Harvard scattered four hits throughout the game, only one less than the total amassed by Columbia. But the difference was that the Lions brought their runners home when they got them on base.

Columbia sophomore Joey Falcone was largely responsible for such production, going two-for-three on the night with two runs and a two-run homer in the fifth that gave the Lions a commanding lead.

The home run followed a long fourth inning in which Columbia put three on the board. After loading the bases with no outs, two runs scored on a fielder’s choice coupled with a Harvard throwing error. A sacrifice fly a few batters later brought home one more run.

The Crimson had trouble against Lions starter David Speer, who went the distance in the seven-inning shutout. The lefty did not allow more than one hit in an inning, walked none, and struck out six.

“The first kid from Columbia, he had our number as a team,” Link said. “He had a lot of movement on his fastball; he was a lefty throwing his cut fastball. He had a lot of our guys rolling over his cut fastball because it had late movement on it. He threw us pretty well.”

Junior Sam Dodge pitched all six innings for Harvard and allowed three earned runs in what was the first Ancient Eight game for the ten freshmen on the roster.

“The Ivy League is where the games really start to matter, so it was a good experience,” Link said. “We got a good indication of what Ivy League baseball is like, and I feel like the whole preseason and spring break and all that prepared us pretty well for Ivy League play. We just have to keep playing baseball fundamentally.”

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at dsteinbach@college.harvard.edu.