“I felt pretty good,” Ferriera said. “I just knew if I threw the ball over the plate, my defense was going to make plays for me. I wasn’t really too nervous—I was just trying to step up for my team.”

After a scoreless eighth frame for both teams, Harvard also went three-and-out in the top of the ninth.

But the pressure rose in the bottom of the final inning.

With Holy Cross’s Evan Ocello on base after hitting a single, Mike Ahmed made it to first from a throwing error by junior pitcher Joey Novak, advancing his teammate to second. A sacrifice bunt by Alex Maldonado put both Ocello and Ahmed in scoring position. Capitalizing on the situation, Chris Sintetos hit a single that sent Ocello home.

With one out in the ninth and Harvard winning, 7-6, Suter came to the mound to replace Novak.

“Honestly, I kind of told Coach to go with another guy instead of me at first because I was feeling a little stiff today,” Suter said. “The nerves were definitely going, but I knew we wanted this win really badly, so I just went out there and said, ‘Put the fear aside; let’s just get in the zone and see what happens.’ Fortunately, good things happened.”

Suter struck out the first batter he faced, and the game ended soon afterwards, when Sintetos was caught off the bag and tagged out in a pickle.

The win is crucial for the Crimson to gain momentum to carry into its opening Ivy League games this weekend.

“It definitely feels good and gets the momentum going into the weekend,” said Suter. “It’s a good feeling now, but we know we’re going to have to recharge and get out there again.”