Crimson win 3 in walk-off fashion

In dramatic fashion, the Harvard men’s baseball team took three-of-four from Cornell and Princeton this past weekend (April 4-5), with the help of three key walk-off hits, two from Tom Stack-Babich ’09 and one from Taylor Meehan ’09.

On Saturday, the Crimson (7-18; 5-3 Ivy League) posted a last-inning, five-run effort against Cornell, defeating the Big Red 6-5 on a three-run home run from Meehan. Hours later, Stack-Babich took over where Meehan left off. With a runner on, the score 5-5, and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Crimson outfielder sent the first pitch he saw soaring out of O’Donnell Field for the game-winning home run, giving Harvard a 7-5 victory.

The next day (April 5), after a disappointing 1-3 loss to Princeton in game one of their doubleheader, the Crimson emerged triumphant after a four-hour, 27-minute, 17-inning marathon that saw a combined 52 hits and 10 pitchers take the mound.

After coming back from two extra-inning deficits, Harvard, down 11-12 in the bottom of the 17th inning, was again bailed out by Stack-Babich, who guided a line drive all the way to the wall to knock in the game-winner. For his weekend efforts, Stack-Babich was named co-Ivy League Player of the week. The 13-12 victory for the Crimson — which started the season with a 4-14 record — was Harvard’s fifth in the past seven games.