CHARLESTON, S.C. – Harvard University baseball beat The Citadel, 4-3, in 10 innings in the first game of a doubleheader before dropping a 10-8 decision in game two in a pair of contests at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park on Saturday afternoon.
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The Crimson (1-4) held an early 3-0 lead in game one and came back with a run in the top of the 10
th to top the Bulldogs (8-2) in the series opener. Harvard held leads of 5-0, 7-3, and 8-6 in game two before The Citadel rallied with four runs in the eighth to split the twin bill. Saturday's competition became a doubleheader after Friday's series opener was postponed one day due to weather.
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In game one, junior right-hander
Sean Matson and first-year right-hander
Andrew Abler combined to allow just one earned run on five hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts. Senior
Ben Rounds went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a double, and junior
George Cooper finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.
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In game two, six members of the Crimson posted multi-hit games as Harvard tallied a season-high 15 hits in the contest. Junior
William Lybrook hit his first home run of the season, and senior
Jake Berger went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.Â
GAME 1: Harvard 4, The Citadel 3 – 10 Innings
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Junior right-hander
Sean Matson threw 6.1 scoreless innings in the start, first-year right-hander
Andrew Abler tossed 3.2 innings of relief in the win, and Harvard beat The Citadel, 4-3, in 10 innings in game one.
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The Crimson held a 3-0 lead entering the bottom of the eighth and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10
th after the Bulldogs knotted the score at 3-3 in the eighth. An RBI single from senior
Jake Berger plated senior
Ben Rounds in the top of the 10
th to push Harvard back into the lead.
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Matson registered seven strikeouts to two walks in his outing while Abler permitted just one earned run with three strikeouts to one walk.
Harvard Highlights
- Junior right-hander Sean Matson tossed 6.1 scoreless innings in the start, allowing three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
- First-year right-hander Andrew Abler threw 3.2 innings in relief in the win. He permitted three runs – just one earned – on two hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
- Over the 10 innings, Matson and Abler combined to allow just one earned run on five hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts.
- Senior Ben Rounds went 3-for-5 with an RBI, a double, and a run scored.
- Junior George Cooper finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- Senior Jake Berger and Sawyer Feller each posted RBI singles.
- Senior Chris Snopek and firs-year Tyler Shulman each notched a hit and a run while sophomore Jordan Kang added two walks and a run scored.
- Harvard tallied 10 hits as a team, marking its first game with double-figure hits this year.Â
How It Happened
- The Crimson struck first in the contest, plating a pair of runs in the top of the second to take a 2-0 lead. Feller and Cooper both hit RBI singles back up the middle in the frame to plate Snopek and Shulman respectively.
- On the mound, Matson racked up five strikeouts through the first two innings, including striking out the side in the bottom of the second.
- Rounds extended Harvard's margin to 3-0 in the top of the seventh with an RBI single through the right side that plated Kang.
- With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Abler came out of the bullpen to induce an inning-ending double play to keep the score at 3-0.
- The Citadel knotted the score at 3-3 with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
- Harvard re-gained a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th inning as an RBI single from Berger plated Rounds. Abler threw a one-two-three bottom of the 10th to close the victory.Â
GAME 2: The Citadel 10, Harvard 8
Six members of the Crimson posted multi-hit games, and junior
William Lybrook hit his first home run of the season, but Harvard fell to The Citadel, 10-8, in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
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The Crimson held a 5-0 lead after the first inning and kept leads of 7-3 in the top of the fourth and 8-6 in the sixth before the Bulldogs plated four runs in the bottom of the eighth.
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Senior
Jake Berger went 3-for-5 with two RBIs in the game, Lybrook hit a three-run homer in his first blast of the year, and the Crimson posted a season-high 15 hits as a team.Â
Harvard Highlights
- Senior Jake Berger went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
- Junior William Lybrook hit his first home run of the season and finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run.
- Senior Ben Rounds posted a 2-for-5 effort with two runs scored while junior Matt Giberti went 2-for-4 with a double.
- Sophomore Max Lane finished 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI, and a double.
- Senior Peter Messervy contributed a double and two runs, senior Chris Snopek went 2-for-4, and first-year Jack Rickheim added a double.
- Sophomore left-hander Brian Dowling threw 5.0 innings in relief, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
- Harvard tallied a season-high 15 hits in the contest, totaling 25 hits between the two games. Six members of the Crimson posted multi-hit games in the second game of the twin bill.Â
How It Happened
- The Crimson plated five runs in the top of the first to jump out to a 5-0 lead. RBI singles from Berger and Snopek scored Harvard's first two runs before Lybrook launched a three-run homer to left center to cap the frame's scoring.
- After The Citadel pulled within 5-3 in the bottom of the first, Harvard answered with the game's next two runs to move ahead 7-3. One run came home following a Berger single in the second before a second run scored off an RBI double from Lane in the fourth.
- The Bulldogs drove in three runs in the last of the fourth to pull within 7-6.
- An RBI single into right field from Berger scored Messervy and extended Harvard's lead to 8-6 in the top of the sixth.
- The Bulldogs plated four runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 10-8 lead.Â
Next Up
Harvard closes its series with The Citadel with game three tomorrow – Sunday, Mar. 3 – at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
