But a lifeless Crimson offense, which managed just four hits off St. Lawrence, spoiled Gruener’s efforts.
HARVARD 10, BROWN 8
Facing a four-run deficit in the seventh inning, the top of the order came to bat for the Crimson. After the first three hitters loaded the bases, an RBI single by Kregel and a two-RBI double by Ferreira cleared the bases to bring Harvard within one.
After going 0-for-4 in the first game, Ferreira went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in the latter contest.
“We decided to stay with [Ferreira] in the second game,” Decker said. “He’s an upperclassmen, and he’s one of our captains, so we decided to give him a chance. He relaxed and refocused himself and worried about the moment. He came up big for us.”
After the Bears’ second pitching change of the inning, the Crimson reloaded the bases with an infield single that trickled up the third-base line. Junior first baseman Nick Saathoff brought home two with a single to left that put Harvard back on top, 8-7.
Bailey closed out the seven-run seventh with a two-RBI double to right to give Harvard a 10-7 lead.
The Crimson seized a 3-1 advantage early in the game, but Brown battled back by belting four home runs off junior pitcher Matt Timoney.
After Harvard retook the lead in the seventh, senior pitcher Sam Dodge came in and notched a two-inning save to give the Crimson its first win of the weekend.
BROWN 5, HARVARD 4
The Crimson had the potential winning run only 90 feet away in the bottom of the seventh, but ultimately the team could not convert.
Down to its final out, two singles by Bailey and Larrow set Harvard up for some late-inning heroics. Martin, who already had a pair of hits in the game, hit a towering fly ball that was misplayed by the Brown right fielder to score Bailey and tie the game at four.
“All we needed was baserunners to get back in the game,” Martin said. “We didn’t need to do it all with one swing. We got clutch two-out hits, which is what we’ve really, really been struggling on all year.”
But Kregel struck out to strand the runners at second and third.
Harvard could not maintain its early 3-0 lead, as sophomore pitcher Sean Poppen surrendered five hits and four runs in the fifth inning. Poppen gave up just one hit and struck out seven in five other innings of work.
After the Crimson pushed the game to extras, senior Zack Olson replaced Poppen on the mound. Despite loading the bases, he managed to give up just a lone run on a sacrifice fly by Massey.
This run proved enough, however, as the Crimson went down quietly in the home half of the eighth to lose a tight opening game of the series, 5-4.