The Crimson fell behind early, as the Aggies (22-9) rallied for five singles and four runs before Harvard recorded an out in the first inning. New Mexico State built its lead to seven by the top of the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, junior shortstop Haley Davis smacked a two-run home run coming off the bench to put the Crimson on the scoreboard. But Harvard did not take advantage of two consecutive walks immediately after the homer and failed to overcome the team’s early deficit.

WEBER STATE 3, HARVARD 2

After going down quietly in its half of the eighth inning, the Crimson faced a bases-loaded, one-out situation playing defense against the Aggies. Harvard nearly escaped, but sophomore left fielder Mackenzie Corta hit a two-out single down the line to lift the Wildcats past the Crimson by a run in a walk-off.       

Harvard had its only lead in the tournament after it broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning of the game. After senior Katie Lantz reached first on an error and advanced to second on a single by fellow senior Katherine Appelbe, a single from Callaway and fielding error by Weber State second baseman McKinley Brinkerhoff allowed both seniors to score.  

Ricciardone held the Wildcats to no runs in five innings of work, but Groom surrendered Harvard’s lead by giving up two runs in relief in the sixth.

“The fact that all of these teams have 10-plus games under their belts, and we are competing is promising for our success this season,” Ricciardone said.

—Staff writer Eileen Storey can be reached at estorey@college.harvard.edu.