April 14, 2007

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--As the old baseball adage goes: good pitching beats good hitting. That adage held true at O'Donnell Field on Saturday afternoon, as Havard's Ivy League-leading pitching staff shut down Yale's league-leading bats, sweeping a doubleheader 5-1 and 6-0. With the victories, Harvard (12-12, 7-3 Ivy) now has a four-game lead over the Bulldogs (10-21, 3-7 Ivy) in the Rolfe Division standings.

Max Perlman (3-1) was brilliant in game one. Perlman tossed a complete game three-hitter while striking out eight and not walking anybody. The only run he allowed was a solo homer by Justin Ankney leading off the sixth.

Harvard got all the offense it needed in the bottom of the first, plating two runs on three hits. The Crimson also benefited from two Yale errors in the inning. The Crimson added two more in the third on three hits and two more Bulldog miscues. Another Yale error in the fifth led to Harvard's final run of game one.

Outside of Ankney's homer, only one Yale runner reached third base in the game. Dan Soltman singled to lead off the third inning, then was erased when Josh Cox grounded into a fielder's choice. After Ankney popped out, Cox stole second and advanced to third when the catcher's throw went into center field, giving the Bulldogs a runner on third with two down. However, Ryan Lavarnway grounded out to end the inning.

Stefan Schropp (2-3) took a hard-luck loss for the Bulldogs. Schropp gave up eight hits and three earned runs in six innings.

It was a balanced offensive effort for the Crimson. Seven different players got a hit, four drove in a run, and five different Crimson scored. Matt Kramer was the only player on either side with two hits in game one.

As effective as Perlman was in game one, Shawn Haviland (2-2) was just as good in game two. Haviland tossed eight innings of shutout ball, surrendering seven hits while striking out 10 and walking just one.

The Bulldogs had their chances in game two. After the first two hitters reached base in the fourth, Haviland got the next three in order to end the threat. In the sixth, Lavarnway singled, Marc Sawyer walked, and Davis Stanley reached on a fielder's choice, putting runners on the corners for Pedro Obregon. Obregon struck out to end the inning. Yale had one more chance in the seventh. Stephen Miehls and Cox belted back-to-back singles, then moved up to second and third on Soltman's groundout. However, the Bulldogs once again came up empty, as Ankney grounded to second. Yale stranded 10 runners on base in the game.

Once again, two-out RBIs did the Yale pitching staff in. Five of Harvard's six runs in game two came with two outs. Chris Wietlispach (0-4) gave up an earned run in the bottom of the first, then got hurt by some control problems and poor defense in the second. After two walks and a fielder's choice put two runners on, Jeff Stoeckel roped a two-run single to center field. Brendan Byrne was up next. Byrne sent a grounder to short that could have ended the inning, but he beat Soltman's throw. The throw went wide, and Stoeckel came around to score on the error.

Wietlispach had an easy third, but got into trouble again in the bottom of the fourth. After getting the first two outs, he hit Stoeckel with a pitch. Byrne then reached on an error, and both runners scored on Matt Vance's single through the left side.

Wietlispach lasted four innings, yielding five hits and six runs (three earned) while striking out one and walking three. The Yale bullpen was effective, holding the Crimson scoreless over the final four innings. Chris Walsh gave up three hits in three innings of work, and Joe Castaldi made his first appearance in a month, giving up a leadoff single before retiring the side in order in the eighth.

Sawyer got a hit in both games to run his hitting streak to 11. Cox went 2-for-5 in game two.

Stoeckel and Vance were the hitting stars for the Crimson in the second game. Stoeckel went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored while Vance went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Jake Bruton pitched the ninth for Harvard and struck out the side after a leadoff walk.

Sunday's doubleheader between the two teams was postponed because of the forecast of snow in the Boston area. The make-up date for the two games has not been announced.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity