CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University baseball hosts Princeton University in its first Ivy League home series of the year at O'Donnell Field beginning with a single game on Friday, Mar. 31 at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+) as the Crimson enters the contest with a 3-1 record in its last four games.

What to Know

• The Crimson (5-15, 2-1 Ivy) continues a four-game homestand when it hosts the Tigers (9-11, 3-0 Ivy). Harvard and Princeton are tentatively set to play single games on Friday, Mar. 31 at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, Apr. 1 at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday, Apr. 2 at noon. If Saturday's game is rained out, the two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday, Apr. 2 beginning at 11:30 a.m.
• Harvard's weekend rotation is set to feature RHP Jay Driver (0-1, 4.33 ERA) in game one, RHP Chris Clark (1-2, 5.76 ERA) in game two, and RHP Sean Matson (0-2, 7.66 ERA) in game three.
• Princeton is set to counter with RHP Jackson Emus (0-2, 7.36 ERA) in game one, LHP Tom Chiemelewski (2-3, 3.95 ERA) in game two, and LHP Matt Scannell (2-0, 8.74 ERA) in game three.
• Harvard leads Princeton in the all-time series, 150-127-25 in a series that dates back to 1868. The Crimson took a 2-1 series win last year and accomplished the same feat in 2019. Harvard swept a three-game set from Princeton in 2018.
• In Harvard's last outing, Crimson relievers combined to allow just one run over 6.2 innings, and senior Hunter Baldwin and first-year Gio Colasante each drove in two runs as Harvard beat Holy Cross, 6-5, in its home opener at O'Donnell Field on Mar. 28.
• 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 12^th in the NCAA in doubles per game (2.50) as a team while junior Peter Messervy stands ninth in the nation in doubles per game (0.55) as an individual. Messervy leads the Ivy League with 11 doubles. Harvard has hit at least two doubles in 16 of 20 games this year and knocked a season-high six in game two vs. FIU (Mar. 4).
• As a team, Harvard ranks second in the Ivy League in doubles (50) and third in average (.268), runs (115), hits (190), home runs (20), RBIs (102), and slugging percentage (.429). 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 .313 batting average, while ranking fifth in the Ivy League in doubles (eight). 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 .297 with 22 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 .273 batting average, 21 hits, 11 runs, four doubles, four home runs, and 15 RBIs. He stands fifth 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 .295 batting average with 13 runs, 18 hits, four doubles, and eight RBIs.
• Junior Peter Messervy leads the Ivy League with 11 doubles and ranks ninth in the NCAA with 0.55 doubles per game. Messervy stands second in the conference in walks (16) and eighth in runs (16). He has hit .276 with 21 hits, 16 runs, and nine RBIs.
• Senior Logan Bravo has notched a .282 average with 22 hits, 16 runs, six doubles, two homers, and seven RBIs. He tallied three two-hit games in the Texas A&M-CC series (Mar. 16-18) before a 3-for-5 effort with the go-ahead home run in the 10^th inning in the series opener with Penn (Mar. 24).
• Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Clark ranks 15^th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (14.40), 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 has notched a 4.33 ERA, 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 plays at Northeastern in the semifinals of The Baseball Beanpot on Tuesday, Apr. 4 at 3:00 p.m. (FloBaseball) prior to returning to Ivy League play at Dartmouth with a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 8 at 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+) and a single game on Sunday, Apr. 9 at noon (ESPN+).