CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The baseball team got the season's first home runs from sophomore Ramon Garza and senior Adam Saks on Saturday, but Harvard took advantage of four home runs of its own to sweep the Big Red at O'Donnell Field, 8-6 and 7-1.
 
Cornell (7-19, 2-9 Ivy League) got seven quality innings out of its bullpen over the two games, but its two starters – who entered the day ranked first and second in the Ivy League in earned run average among qualifiying pitchers – took it on the chin against the potent offense of Harvard (18-7, 8-3).
 
The festival of gopher balls was new territory for the Big Red, which had seen just 16 home runs (for both itself and its opponents) in its first 24 games before seeing six in Saturday's doubleheader alone.
 
The teams are scheduled to conclude the three-game series at noon Sunday.
 

Game 1: HARVARD 8, CORNELL 6 (Box Score)

All of the game's runs game in the first six innings before the bullpens settled things down. Freshman Luke Yacinich was solid in recording the final seven outs for the Big Red, but the offense couldn't make a dent against the Crimson's tandem of Enzo Stefanoni and Kieran Shaw. The latter recorded his 11th save, which ties the Ivy League single-season record.
 
Senior Will Simoneit was hit by a pitch with two out in the first, Garza followed with a blast over the wall in left to give Cornell a 2-0 lead. Harvard countered with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first, then took the lead with a run in the second. But a slick defensive play kept that damage minimal, thanks to a rare 5-4-2 double play. With runners on the corners and one out, a hot shot was handled by Alex Carnegie at third, he threw to second for the first putout. Second baseman Matt Collins had trouble on the transfer to erase the possibility of turning the play on to first, but he alertly noticed the runner from third breaking home. His throw home was in time, and catcher Simoneit deftly fielding it from the far batter's box and made a long sweeping tag.
 
Harvard plated two more in the third before Cornell got those runs right back in the fourth. Simoneit was, again, hit by pitch and Garza followed with a single to right. A sacrifice bunt by sophomore Nicholas Binnie moved them into scoring position, and freshman Austin Flematti plated them both with a base hit right back up the middle.
 
After Patrick McColl and Jake Suddleson hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth, the Big Red got its deficit back to two with Carnegie's two-run single in the sixth to score Garza and Binnie. All six of Cornell's runs were scored with two out.
 

Game 2: HARVARD 7, CORNELL 1 (Box Score)

Saks led off the game with his first collegiate home run, marking the sixth time in the last 10 games that the Big Red has scored in its half of the first inning. Harvard jumped ahead with two in the bottom of the frame after absorbing a pair of hit-by-pitches.
 
The Crimson plated single runs in the third and the fourth innings to expand its lead to three runs before junior Andrew Ellison came on in relief and set down eight straight before finally conceding a hit.
 
Cornell put plenty of pressure on against Harvard starter Buddy Hayward, but he was bailed out by some outstanding defense. Flematti was on third and freshman Justin Taylor stole second with two out in the fifth when senior Josh Arndt laced a ball toward the gap in right-center before Suddleson made a tumbling catch at full speed to save two runs. Simoneit then led off the sixth with a bullet to center that was labeled for extra bases before a diving catch by Ben Skinner.
 
Harvard then blew the game open with Suddleson's three-run homer in the eighth. Hayward tossed a complete game with six strikeouts around five hits, one earned run and a pair of walks.