CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Jake Berger broke a 6-6 tie with a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning to guide Harvard to a 7-6 victory over the Cornell baseball team at O'Donnell Field on Friday afternoon.

Berger went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in the victory for the Crimson, who mustered just four hits off Cornell pitching.

Harrison Stovern was the winning pitcher for Harvard (12-17, 8-2 Ivy) after he tossed the final two innings for the Crimson.

Jay Driver started on the mound for Harvard as he pitched the first five innings and allowed two runs on six runs while striking out seven and issuing just one walk.

Freshman left-handed pitcher John Gerfen, who pitched to just one batter in the eighth, was the losing pitcher for Cornell (4-20, 3-7 Ivy).

Senior left-handed pitcher Spencer Edwards pitched four shutout innings and did not allow a hit despite walking five and fanning a pair of Crimson batters.

Sophomore second baseman Max Jensen went 3-for-5 on the day for the Big Red, who had an 11-hit day. Junior designated hitter Nathan Waugh and sophomore center fielder Jakobi Davis each went 2-for-4 in the setback. Davis was the lone Cornell player to score multiple times.

Both teams combined to strand nine runners on base over the first three innings as the Big Red and Crimson struggled to plate the game's first run.

Cornell had the first chance to plate the game's first run in the opening inning when Jensen and Waugh both recorded base hits to right field with 3-2 counts. Driver used a strikeout and a ground out to strand the pair of Cornell baserunners.

The Big Red also left a pair of runners on base in the second as senior left fielder Wils Guy was hit by a pitch and sophomore shortstop Ryan Porter recorded a base hit. Driver, for the second consecutive inning, generated a strikeout and a ground ball to get out of the inning unscathed.

Harvard stranded one runner in each of the first two innings after drawing a walk in each frame. In the third, Edwards issued a trio of walks but got an inning-ending fly out to keep the contest scoreless.

Jensen opened the scoring in the fifth with a two-out, opposite field RBI single that plated Davis. Kaplan tacked on another Cornell run with a two-out RBI single to the right-center field gap.

Harvard recorded its first hit of the day with a one-out double by Ben Rounds in the home-half of the fifth off Cornell freshman reliever Carson Mayfield. The Crimson eventually took the lead following a sacrifice fly by Logan Bravo and a pair of two-out RBI singles by Will Jacobsen and Gio Colasante.

The Crimson scored three runs across the sixth and seventh innings on wild pitches.

Cornell tied the game at 6-all following a four-run eighth inning. Seniors Joe Hollerbach and Ryan Ross drew leadoff walks to set up Guy with an RBI double to left-center field. A pair of RBI groundouts by Porter and sophomore catcher John Quinlan made it a one-run game before a wild pitch by Stovern enabled Davis to tie the game.

After a leadoff walk was issued by Gerfen, Porter came in from shortstop to pitch, getting the first two batters out before Berger hit the go-ahead, two-out RBI single to left field to give the Crimson the lead.

Stovern slammed the door on any potential Cornell comeback as he used just eight pitches to retire the Big Red's 4-5-6 hitters.

Game Notes

• Cornell and Harvard met for the 168th time on Friday afternoon. The Crimson improved to 112-55 all-time against the Big Red and have won the four meetings in the series.

• Edwards made his first start of the season, which was his first start since last year against Brown on May 7.

• Jensen's three-hit day was the most hits for the sophomore since last year when he also had a three-hit day against Columbia on April 30.

• Davis recorded his 10th stolen base of the season in the fifth, marking the first time a Big Red player has posted 10-plus steals in a season since Matt Collins swiped 10 bases in 2019.

• Following its pair of multi-run innings, Cornell has now scored 83 of its 112 runs in innings in which it scores at least two runs.

Looking Ahead

Cornell and Harvard will conclude its three-game series at O'Donnell Field on Saturday with a doubleheader. The twin bill is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.