The baseball team made the drive to Harvard on Tuesday for the second time in less than a week. But this trip did not end as well as the last one.
After earning a split in Cambridge this weekend, Yale (10-15, 5-7 Ivy) dropped both games to the Crimson on Tuesday, falling 7-4 and 3-2. The Elis’ lone bright spot came as first baseman Trygg Larsson-Danforth ’10 continued his hot streak at the plate, belting his sixth home run of the season.
“Our pitching could have been a little better,” Stefan Schropp ’09 said. “I think that was the key to the game — not throwing strikes — we gave them too many runners.”
Yale scored early in the first inning of the first game. Schropp led off with a single to center field. Second baseman Gant Elmore ’11 reached second on a sacrificial bunt throwing error by the pitcher, and the duo in scoring position, a ground out from third baseman Andy Megee ’11 sent Schropp home. Elmore scored moments later when outfielder Charlie Neil ’12 singled to left center.
Yale’s bats worked again in the second inning as Zach Tobolowsky ’12 hit a single to left. He then scored when Schropp flied out to right field. With the score 3-0, the third inning began.
“In the first game, we came out, got up early, then they battled and stayed in,” Schropp said.
When Harvard came to bat in the third, the Crimson scored a single run. In the fourth, they added three additional runs and took the lead. With two runs in, Chris Finneran ’10 replaced starter Vinny Lally ’11 on the mound.
In the fifth, Dan Berardo went in for Harvard’s Dan Zailskas on the mound and started with a strikeout. Elmore then doubled to right field and Danforth singled for the RBI.
Harvard sealed the victory, however, in the fifth by adding three more runs. Chris Walsh ’09 was brought from the bullpen to finish the inning for the Elis, and the Bulldogs were able to close the inning as Schropp caught fly ball at center.
With no change of score in the sixth or seventh, the game ended 7-4 Harvard.
In the second game, pitcher Megee, in his first league start of the season, opened on the mound for the Bulldogs. In six innings, he managed four strikeouts and only allowed five hits. Harvard’s pitcher, Connor Hulse, pitched a seven-strikeout game.
“We ran into a guy who was throwing really well. It was a tough break,” Schropp said. “The guy we faced from was a very good pitcher — a lot of strikes.”
Yale took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. With two outs on the board, Megee walked. Danforth followed with his sixth home run of the year, thus bringing in two runs.
“They were nothing special — pretty standard Ivy league pitchers,” Danforth said of Harvard’s rotation. “We just couldn’t get any thing going. We played hard. We just didn’t come through with some runs we really needed.”
In the bottom of the inning, the Crimson struck back with two runs of their own. However, the Elis were able to get the three outs to leave three Harvard players on base.
In the seventh, Yale brought Eric Shultz ’12 in from the bullpen to close the game.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the ninth, when, in a game winning play, Harvard’s Harry Douglass singled through the right side with two men on base and gained the RBI as Dillon O’Neill scored. With that run, the game ended 3-2.
The Bulldogs will take to the field again today at 3:30 p.m. with a doubleheader against Fairfield at Yale Field.