This energy remained even after the Big Red jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after three innings. The Crimson offense got rolling in the fourth frame when Kregel led off the inning by lacing a single to the third base side. The hitters behind him kept the line moving, and he would eventually score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of sophomore third baseman Mitch Klug.

“We just needed baserunners,” Martin said. “We put a couple together and [Cornell’s pitcher] lost command, so we kind of found our groove there.”

Despite a fourth inning home run from the Big Red’s Matt Hall, Harvard continued to narrow the deficit. In the next two innings, the team would tack on another four runs and take a one-run lead in the sixth courtesy of a single from senior second baseman Kyle Larrow which plated freshman shortstop Drew Reid.

Still, Cornell refused to go away quietly. In the bottom of the seventh, the Big Red’s Ryan Karl smashed a triple to right-center field, scoring teammate JD Whetsel and knotting the score at five. The game would remain tied through nine, and the teams entered extra innings.

After quickly hitting into two outs in the top of the 10th, the Crimson was running out of opportunities as Bailey came up to the plate.

“You don’t really want to keep going into 11, 12, 13 innings,” Bailey said. “You just try to get yourself on base and pass the torch to your teammates.”

Bailey came through by smacking an opposite field double, putting himself in scoring position and bringing Larrow to the plate. The second baseman also came through under pressure by singling to left field, allowing Bailey to race home from second to take the lead.

“We have a nickname for [Larrow],” Bailey said. “We call him ‘the servant.’ Whenever you need something, he’ll come through, and he did his job today.”

All that remained was for the Harvard pitching staff to seal the deal, and senior Zack Olson did just that. He recorded two strikeouts in the final frame and closed the door on Cornell to secure the 6-5 win for his team.