April 25, 2007

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Ryan Lavarnway continued his assault on the Yale record books at O'Donnell Field on Wednesday, breaking the single-season doubles record and tying the school mark for home runs in a 13-0 Yale victory in the second game of a doubleheader. In the fifth inning, he hit a line drive over the left-center field fence for his 12th home run of the year, tying Tony Paterno's 24-year-old mark. In his next at-bat in the seventh, Lavarnway smashed his 17th double of the year, breaking the record he shared with teammate Marc Sawyer and two others. He finished the game a triple short of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs, bringing his season totals to 66 hits and 49 runs batted in.

Harvard's Shawn Haviland (3-2) was brilliant in game one, tossing a complete game one-hitter in a 2-0 Crimson victory.

Game two was played through a steady rain, which did nothing to slow down the Yale bats. After being held to one run and 11 hits over the first three games of the series (the first two games were played on April 14), the Bulldogs erupted for 13 runs and 17 hits in the contest.

Yale got things started with an eight-run first inning. After Josh Cox struck out to start the game, the next nine Bulldogs to come to the plate reached base, and eight in a row scored. Sawyer tapped an infield single, his first of four hits on the day, to start the rally. Harvard starter Adam Cole (0-3) walked Lavarnway and gave up a single to Justin Ankney to load the bases. Sawyer scored on Charles Bush's bases-loaded walk, then Pedro Obregon smacked a two-run single to make it 3-0. Stefan Schropp singled to load the bases again, and Stephen Miehls delivered an RBI single to chase Cole. Cole lasted one-third of an inning, giving up four hits, seven earned runs and three walks.

The rally continued against Cole's replacement Jake Bruton. Dan Soltman's single and a Cox walk brought home two more runs before Sawyer flied to left for the second out. With the bases still juiced, Lavarnway delivered a two-run single to make it 8-0.

Brett Rosenthal (2-2) had an eight-run cushion before he even threw a pitch in his second career start. Rosenthal gave up five hits in five innings, as Harvard only came close to getting on the board twice. In the fifth, the Crimson loaded the bases with nobody out. Dan Zailskas sent a double play ball towards second, and Soltman flipped to Ankney for the first out before the play was broken up. However, Matt Kramer was called for interference, meaning Zailskas was automatically out and the lead runners had to go back to second and third. After a walk, Rosenthal got out of the inning on a lazy grounder to short.

Harvard had another scoring chance in the sixth against Chris Wietlispach, but poor base running cost the Crimson a run. With runners on first and second and two out, the runners took off. Lavarnway's throw to second went into center field, and Matt Rogers headed for third. However, lead runner Jack Levine didn't see the play and stopped at third. Cox threw it in to Soltman, who caught Rogers in a run-down, forcing Levine to head for home. Soltman then tossed to Lavarnway, who made the tag for the third out.

The Bulldogs continued their offensive onslaught with three runs in the fifth, as well as single tallies in the fourth and seventh. Sawyer went 4-for-6 with three runs scored, and Ankney and Bush each scored twice. Schropp was 2-for-4 at the plate, including his first career triple. Miehls also went 2-for-4. Five Yale pitchers combined on the shutout. Chris Walsh, Matthew Smith and John Henry Davis followed Rosenthal and Wietlispach with a scoreless relief inning each.

In the first game, just four Yale batters reached base, and none advanced past second. The Bulldogs' only hit was a Soltman single leading off the third inning. He was erased on a pickoff, and Haviland retired 14 of the next 15 batters in order, yielding only a leadoff walk to Chris Sweeney in the fifth. The only other Yale base runner came on a throwing error on the first play of the game. Haviland walked two and struck out four to run his string to 15 consecutive scoreless innings against Yale. He tossed the first eight innings of a 5-0 Harvard win on April 14.

Brandon Josselyn (3-3) suffered the hard-luck loss for the Bulldogs, giving up seven hits and two runs while striking out five and walking two in a complete game effort. Josselyn only got into trouble twice, which led to both Harvard runs. Andrew Casey smacked a leadoff single in the third and came around on Brendan Byrne's RBI single. After getting the first two outs of the fifth, Josselyn allowed a base hit followed by a walk. An RBI single by Rogers made it 2-0, which was more than Haviland needed. Yale didn't commit an error in game one, the first time all season the Bulldogs lost while going perfect in the field.

The Bulldogs still have an outside shot at the Rolfe Division title, but will need to sweep Brown this weekend. The four-game set gets underway with a doubleheader at Yale Field on Saturday at 12 p.m., and concludes with a twinbill in Providence at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Seniors Ankney, Obregon, Rosenthal, Sawyer, Mike Mongiardini and Cody Slape will be honored on Saturday.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity