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When the dust finally settled on Sunday afternoon, there were no more games that mattered — at least not for the Crimson.

Under gray skies and postseason pressure, Harvard baseball was swept out of its final Ivy League home series in devastating fashion, falling 16-13, 8-3, and 19-1 to a dominant Columbia team that clinched the Ivy League regular season crown with precision. The Lions (24–17, 16–5 Ivy) left O’Donnell Field as champions. Harvard (11–27, 8–13 Ivy) left with its season resting on Yale’s shoulders.

With just one game remaining on the schedule — a midweek make-up against Princeton — and a logjam of teams ahead of them in the standings, the Crimson now needs both a sweep of Dartmouth from the Bulldogs and a win of its own to clinch a postseason spot.

Columbia 16, Harvard 13

Leading 13-9 entering the ninth inning — after slugging its way back from multiple deficits behind home runs from sophomores Tyler Shulman and Ryan Mooney and a bases-clearing double from junior Gio Colasante — the Crimson had every reason to believe this game would mark the beginning of a late-season surge.

Instead, it unraveled spectacularly.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, Columbia shortstop Sam Miller turned a hanging pitch into heartbreak, sending a grand slam over the right-field wall to give the Lions the lead for good with seven runs scored in the frame.

Despite 15 hits, five multi-hit performances, and runs in six of eight offensive innings, Harvard could not protect a four-run lead in the ninth — a collapse that turned a potential win into one of the season’s most devastating defeats, and set the tone for a weekend that would dim its postseason hopes.

Columbia 8, Harvard 3

Just hours after the gut-punch of game one, the Crimson returned to the field for the nightcap with visible urgency. But Columbia showed no intention of relenting.

Harvard briefly led 2-1 in the first inning on a triple from senior Matt Giberti and a solo homer from Colasante — his first of two on the day — but the Lions responded in a swift way. A two-run homer in the fourth reclaimed the lead, and Columbia’s bullpen took over from there.

Colasante added a second solo shot in the sixth, marking his first career multi-homer game and pushing his season total to eight, but the offense dried up otherwise. Columbia’s relievers combined for 3.1 no-hit innings, shutting down the middle of Harvard’s order.

Meanwhile, the Crimson’s pitching, stretched thin by the earlier bullpen collapse, could not hold the line. Starter Truman Pauley struck out six across 4.1 innings but gave way to a relief crew that was forced to pitch from behind yet again.

Columbia 19, Harvard 1

By the time Sunday’s finale arrived, the narrative was no longer about what Harvard could achieve — only what more Columbia could prove.

The Lions, needing just one more win to clinch the Ivy League title, erupted for six runs in the second inning and never looked back. They tallied 19 hits, plated 19 runs, and chased Harvard pitching from the mound inning after inning. Every Columbia starter reached base. Eleven different players scored. The margin of defeat — 18 runs — was Harvard’s largest of the season and the program’s worst in Ivy League play since 2022.

Harvard’s only response came in the eighth, when Jack Rickheim doubled and scored on an RBI single from Giberti. By then, Columbia’s bench had already started celebrating.

The sweep capped off a series in which Harvard was outscored 43-17 and out-hit 48-30. In every inning, the Lions looked like a team bound for a title.

With the series sweep, Harvard now sits at 8–12 in Ivy play — a standing that leaves it locked out of the Ivy League Tournament field, where only the top four teams advance. With a win over Princeton on Wednesday and a sweep from Yale over the Big Green, a glimmer of hope still exists for the Crimson.

Sunday also marked Harvard’s final home series of the season — and the penultimate O'Donnell Field appearance for the program’s seven seniors: Nate Baxter, Cole Cleary, George Cooper, Sawyer Feller, Matt Giberti, Peter Levin, and William Lybrook.

Harvard will close its 2025 regular season campaign on Wednesday at 1 p.m. against Princeton in a rescheduled game from April. The contest will stream live on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.