CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University baseball hosts Holy Cross in its 2023 home opener at O'Donnell Field on Tuesday, Mar. 28 at 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+), coming off a 2-1 road series win over Penn in its first Ivy League series of the season.

What to Know

• The Crimson (4-15, 2-1 Ivy) competes at home for the first time this season when it welcomes the Crusaders (7-17, 1-3 Patriot) to Cambridge. Harvard hosts a home game for the first time this year after playing its first 19 games away from home.
• Harvard is set to feature RHP Will Jacobsen (0-2, 8.78 ERA) as its starter against Holy Cross.
• Holy Cross is set to counter with RHP Sean Scanlon (0-0, 6.06 ERA).
• Harvard trails Holy Cross in the all-time series, 66-105, in a series that dates back to 1883. The Crusaders took an 11-5 decision in the matchup last spring.
• In its Ivy League opening series, Harvard earned a 2-1 road series win over Penn in Philadelphia. The Crimson captured the series opener, 3-2, in 10 innings before claiming a 7-3 decision in the series finale. Junior Jake Berger and senior Logan Bravo each hit home runs in the opener before sophomore Sean Matson and first-year Callan Fang combined to limit the Quakers to three runs in the finale.
• Harvard ranks 17^th in the NCAA in doubles per game (2.47) as a team while junior Peter Messervy and sophomore George Cooper stand eighth and 14^th in the nation in doubles per game (0.56 and 0.53 respectively) as individuals. Messervy leads the Ivy League with 10 doubles. Harvard has hit at least two doubles in 15 of 19 games this year and knocked a season-high six in game two vs. FIU (Mar. 4).
• As a team, Harvard ranks first in the Ivy League in doubles (48) and third in average (.267), runs (109), hits (181), home runs (20), RBIs (98), and slugging percentage (.433). The Crimson has tallied double-figure runs in three games and double-figure hits in eight games in 2023.
• Sophomore George Cooper leads the Crimson with a .333 batting average, while ranking third in the Ivy League in doubles (eight), 10^th in average (.333), and 10^th in slugging (.492). He tallied a season-high four hits in game two at FIU (Mar. 4). Cooper went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, a triple, and a double in game three at Penn (Mar. 26).
• Junior Jake Berger has hit .300 with 21 hits, 12 runs, four doubles, and three home runs. He hit a key two-run home run in the Crimson's 3-2 win in 10 innings in game one at Penn (Mar. 24).
• Junior Ben Rounds has posted a .278 batting average, 20 hits, three doubles, four home runs, and 15 RBIs. He stands fourth in the Ancient Eight in home runs (four). Rounds notched a season-best four hits in game three at FAU (Mar. 12).
• Senior Hunter Baldwin has registered a .293 batting average with 13 runs, 17 hits, four doubles, and six RBIs.
• Junior Peter Messervy leads the Ivy League with 10 doubles and ranks eighth in the NCAA with 0.56 doubles per game. He has hit .278 with 20 hits, 15 runs, and nine RBIs. He stands first in the conference in walks (16) and ninth in runs (15).
• Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Clark ranks 18^th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (14.25), while ranking first in the Ivy League in strikeouts (40). He has tallied seven or more strikeouts in four of his five starts in 2023. Clark has registered 40 strikeouts over 25.0 innings pitched on the season.
• Junior right-handed pitcher Jay Driver ranks fourth in the Ivy League in strikeouts (32) and 10^th in ERA (4.33), throwing 27.0 innings on the year. He has posted six or more strikeouts in each of his last four starts.
• The Crimson made three visits to the state of Florida and one visit to the state of Texas over the first four weekends of the season. Harvard logged approximately 9,135 flight miles over the course of the four trips.
• Harvard was selected to finish fourth in the 2023 Ivy League Baseball Preseason Media Poll. The Crimson totaled 75 points to land in the top half of the eight-team poll. Columbia took the top spot with 124 points and 12 first-place votes. Penn (113 points, three first-place votes) and Dartmouth (91 points, one first-place vote) claimed the second and third spots. Yale (68 points), Brown (45), Princeton (31), and Cornell (29) rounded out the fifth through eighth spots in the poll.

Up Next

Harvard hosts Princeton in its first Ivy League home series of the year with a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 1 at 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+) and a single game on Sunday, Apr. 2 at noon (ESPN+).