BOSTON--On an overcast day at Yawkey Way, the Harvard baseball team had an afternoon typical of Fenway Park's usual inhabitants--bitterly disappointing.
A ninth-inning rally fell one run short as junior first baseman Erik Binkowski grounded into a game-ending double play with the tying run on third, and the Crimson dropped yesterday's Beanpot semifinal to UMass, 13-12.
The Crimson (21-14, 13-3 Ivy) entered the inning trailing 13-10, but put its first four batters aboard, and got an RBI single from freshman shortstop Mark Mager and a sacrifice fly from senior center fielder Andrew Huling to close the gap to 13-12.
That left runners at the corners with one out for Binkowski, who finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored.
Binkowski battled UMass reliever Nick Skirkanich to a two-strike count, then drove a split-fingered fastball up the middle, where second baseman Shaun Skeffington ranged to his right, scooped up the grounder, stepped on second and gunned to first, beating Binkowski by two steps.
"[Skirkanich] had thrown me three splitters," Binkowski said. "So I was looking for one. He threw one down the middle and I hit it back up the middle, which is what I'm supposed to do. Yeah, I was upset that I hit into the double play, but I don't know what I could have done differently in the at-bat."
With the win, the Minutemen (22-12) advance to their fourth straight Beanpot final, where they will meet Boston College, 9-7 winners over Northeastern in yesterday's first semifinal. Harvard has not won the Beanpot outright since 1991.
"We had the right guys up, our three-four-five," senior catcher Jason Keck said. "Huling did a good job and Bink hit it right on the nose, but at somebody. It's especially disappointing for the seniors because we haven't won in four tries."
UMass bounced back from a 10-4 deficit through four innings by reeling off nine straight runs behind the bats of two outfielders. Right fielder Aaron Braunstein was 3-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored, and center fielder Nick Gorneault went 4-for-4 with five RBI and three runs scored.
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