His throwing partner has seen a similar drive in his rookie teammate.
“I think [Gruener] is pitching better than anyone thought a freshman was going to do right away,” Dodge said. “He came back when we were scrimmaging in [February]...and [we said], ‘Wow, this kid is better than we all thought.’”
It’s been a top-to-bottom change in attitude for the main Crimson arms, starting with the new coaching staff and continuing with the veteran throwers on the team down to the less-experienced.
“Sean, Dodge, and [junior] Tanner [Anderson] are all exceptional pitchers,” Gruener said. “I kind of get to look at them and see how they excel and where they excel and build off that.”
The upperclassmen have similarly seen progress in their game stemming from some of the changes.
“It’s fun to have internal competition and, this last year, trying to be just as good as these guys every day,” Dodge said. “It’s making us all better [and] we’re seeing [that] on the field.”
The improvement has been considerable for Dodge and Anderson, the latter of whom owns a 2.82 ERA through seven appearances—two starts—and three saves. Anderson finished with a 5.11 ERA in his sophomore year and appears to have found his niche rotating through the rotation, bullpen, and the field, where he was a second-team All-Ivy second baseman a year ago.
Though the Crimson’s losing record doesn’t fully reflect the pitching staff’s growth, the coaching staff has taken note.
“I think the [positive] first thing [to take away from the first few games] is that I thought our four guys that started did a really good job,” Decker said. “I’m real happy with their progress—they all pitched late into games…. The four guys we’re going to roll out are going to give us a chance to compete.”
Even with the early nonconference losses, the pitchers have taken the defeats in stride and have tried to use them as further motivation.
“One thing that I always try to do...is to go out and be better each time out and to improve,” Dodge said. “And if [we] do that every time out, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win.”
The four starters will need more support from the bullpen and some clutch hitting for the team to string together some wins; it is only early April and the squad has already lost six one-run games.
However, Harvard will continue to look to whoever takes the hill in the first inning to keep them competitive.
“Nick Gruener is going to battle, Sean Poppen is going to battle, Sam Dodge is going to battle, Tanner Anderson is going to battle,” Decker said. “That’s really the thing that all four of those guys have in common—we’re going [to] get after it.”
—Staff writer Caleb Y. Lee can be reached at caleblee@college.harvard.edu.