April 15, 2006

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WEST HAVEN, Conn. - Senior ace Alec Smith (Turlock, Calif.) picked up his second consecutive complete-game victory in the front end of an Ivy League doubleheader with Harvard on Saturday afternoon. Yale won the opener 3-1, but a strange confluence of events let Harvard rally from three runs down to claim the nightcap 8-7.

Smith (3-3) pitched well and benefited from some stellar defense behind him.

With Yale up 1-0 on a second inning Eric Rasmussen (Brewster, Mass.) RBI single, Smith and the Bulldog defense turned a two-on-nobody-out situation in the fourth into nothing but frustration for Harvard.

With Steffan Wilson at second and Josh Klimkiewicz at first, Morgan Brown attempted to move the runners along with a bunt, but Yale first baseman Marc Sawyer (Largo, Fla.) charged with the pitch, scooped up the bunted ball and fired a strike to third to get the lead runner Wilson.

Brendan Byrne then chopped a ball to third where Charles Bush (Jackson, Miss.) fielded it cleanly, stepped on the bag to erase Klimkiewicz and fired on to first to complete the twin killing, ending the threat.

The Crimson, however, would tie the contest in the fifth inning.

Andrew Casey picked up a one-out base hit and scurried to second base on a passed ball. Matt Vance followed with a single to left to plate Casey, but Vance was gunned down by left fielder Josh Cox (Gainesville, Fla.) trying to stretch the single into a double. It was the first of two outfield assists Cox would pick up on the day. Smith got out of the inning on a grounder to third.

Yale responded in the bottom of the frame by scoring a pair of runs to re-gain the lead at 3-1.

With one out Cox singled cleanly through the middle and stole second to move into scoring position for P.J. Gorynski (Queens, N.Y.). On a 2-2 pitch Gorynski struck out, but with Cox in motion the ball got away from Andrew Casey allowing Gorynski to reach first on the passed ball and allowing Cox steal third easily.

Sawyer followed with an RBI fielder's choice to give the Elis a 2-1 lead. He would also steal second to move himself into scoring position with Jake Doyle (Wilmington, Del.) at the plate.

Doyle singled through the box and with Sawyer charging home, Wilson's relay went over the catchers head, forcing Casey to attempt a tag on Sawyer. Sawyer alertly slid underneath the tag and touched home for the 3-1 lead.

From there Smith worked a 1-2-3 sixth and battled back from a two-out walk in the seventh to preserve the Yale win.

The nightcap turned out to be an ugly affair with six combined errors and 29 runners left on base.

Yale took the first lead of the game in the second inning with a Dan Soltman (Evanston, Ill.) RBI single.

Both teams would score a run in each of the next two innings to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead going into the fifth.

Harvard tied the game for the third time of the day in the fifth, on a run scoring single from Matt Rogers. Yale came back in its half of the inning to post a pair of runs on a clutch two-out double to left off the bat of Cox to put the Bulldogs up 5-3.

A two-out solo home run by Salsgiver in the sixth inning cut the lead to 5-4.

Undaunted, the Bulldogs scored a pair of runs in the seventh inning to go up 7-4. Sawyer would get the big hit this time, driving in both runs with a bases-loaded single to give the Elis some breathing room.

Reliever Matt Fealey (Queens, N.Y.), however, was unable to hold onto the lead giving up three runs in the eighth to let the Crimson knot the game at 7-7.

After Fealey got the first two batters on a strikeout and a ground out, Salsgiver started the rally by lining a two-strike base hit though the left side. He then stole second and advanced to third when Rasmussen's attempt to catch him stealing went into centerfield. Vance and Wilson followed with RBI hits to reduce the Yale lead to 7-6.

Fealey then walked Klimkiewicz prompting Yale to bring in its closer, Brett Rosenthal (Irving, Texas).

Rosenthal was greeted with a first-pitch double to left from the pinch-hitting Brown that tied the score. Harvard could have taken the lead on the play, but the Yale defense cut down Klimkiewicz at the plate. Cox fielded the ball cleanly and hit relay man Soltman. Soltman fired home, beating Klimkiewicz by 10 feet, allowing Rasmussen to tag him out easily.

Yale had a chance to do some damage in the bottom of the eight, but Yale stranded the potential go-ahead run at third after Cox lined into a double play.

The Crimson would take their only lead of the game in the ninth with an un-earned run.

Casey led off the inning with a single and was cut down at second after Taylor Meehan failed to advance him with a bunt. Adam Barrick (Freeport, N.Y.) was then summoned out of the pen to face Chris Mackey.

Barrick induced Mackey to ground into a fielder's choice, wiping Meehan out at second. Pitcher Matt Brunning then hit a weak chopper to the right side of the mound. Both Barrick and Sawyer attempted to field the ball, leaving first uncovered. Barrick attempted to flip the ball to the late-covering Gorynski, but his toss went well wide and into foul territory. Meehan, who was on third base at this point, broke for home and scored the go-ahead run on the error. Barrick would recover to get out of the inning on a ground out.

The Bulldog ninth is when the already interesting game turned bizarre.

Gorynski led off with a walk and advanced to second after Saywer singled. Doyle then advanced the runners into scoring position with a perfect sacrifice bunt.

With first base open the Crimson elected to intentionally walk designated hitter John Janco (Cannonsburg, Pa.) to load the bases for the freshman Lavarnway. With Javier Castellanos now on the hill, Lavarnway popped up the first pitch high near the third base bag. The wind played tricks with the ball, pushing it from foul territory back into fair territory.

Wilson, the Harvard third baseman, lost track of the ball and it landed just inside the foul line. Confused because the infield fly rule had not been called, Gorynski attempted to retreat to third base, but since it was still a force play he was tagged out for the second out of the inning. Sawyer, realizing he was obligated to move to third base, broke for the bag after Wilson attempted to run the ball to the mound to call time. Meehan, the shortstop, realizing the situation, broke for third and Wilson's throw to Meehan at the bag beat the slide of Sawyer to end the game with the Crimson on top 8-7.

With the split Yale is now 20-13 (7-3 Ivy) and Harvard is 13-12-1 (8-2 Ivy). With Brown and Dartmouth also splitting their twin bill, the Bulldogs remain one game behind both Harvard and Brown for the Rolfe Division lead.

The Bulldogs and Crimson will renew the rivalry on Sunday, closing out the four-game series with another doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 PM.