But the Crimson would come up just short. After loading the bases with two outs in the eighth, Martin fouled out to end the threat. And despite putting a pair of runners in scoring position with one down in the top of the ninth, two consecutive outs resulted in Harvard dropping another tight decision.

“We really have to finish games off,” Anderson said. “We struggled a little on the mound and they put a few runs on us, but that’s something we have to come back from.”

The Crimson dug itself into an early hole by surrendering three runs in the first two innings. In his second collegiate start, freshman Nick Gruener walked the first two batters of the game and gave up a two-out double that scored both.

After a two-out rally resulted in another run Big Red run in the second, freshman Nick Gruener would settle down and complete six innings having allowed four earned runs.

The top six hitters in the Crimson’s lineup all registered knocks in the game, but the Harvard could not overcome the 14 men it left on base.

HARVARD 4, LAMAR 0

After dropping four tight contests last weekend, the Crimson finally got itself in the win column Friday night. Harvard rode strong pitching, timely hitting, and error-free defense to a 4-0 victory in the first game of the series.

Sophomore Sean Poppen blew through the Big Red lineup in six dominant innings, scattering just four hits while striking out eight. Poppen left the game after retiring seven consecutive batters, and Anderson would enter in the eighth to record a five-out save.

Harvard put two runs on the board in the second frame with back-to-back RBI singles from Bailey and Klug. That would prove to be enough for the Crimson pitching staff, but the team tacked on another run in the fifth inning and successfully executed a squeeze in the eighth.

Both Anderson and Kregel – who combined for just one hit in four games against Oral Roberts – saw their bats come alive, as each registered three knocks in the contest.

“Most of the games were pretty close,” Anderson said. “The first one was pretty good; the shutout is always nice. After that I thought we played pretty well, but it didn’t really fall our way.”

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at david.steinbach@thecrimson.com.