Harvard University baseball will continue its Ivy League schedule with a three-game series against Cornell University at Booth Field in Ithaca, New York, beginning with a doubleheader on Sunday, Mar. 29 and concluding with a single game on Monday, Mar. 30.
Both Harvard (2-14, 1-2 Ivy) and Cornell (3-13, 1-2 Ivy) enter the weekend tied for fifth place in the conference after each team posted a 1-2 record during their opening league series. The teams have played each other since 1887, with Harvard leading the all-time matchup by a margin of 116-60. Last season, Harvard won two out of three games against Cornell.
Senior infielder and right-handed pitcher Gio Colasante was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Mar. 23 following strong performances both at bat and on the mound. Colasante hit .412 over four games that week and contributed six runs, four RBIs, and two home runs while also pitching six innings as a starter in game one against Columbia.
Colasante leads the league in home runs this season with four and is sixth in RBIs with fourteen. In conference play alone, he has maintained a .455 batting average along with five hits and four RBIs. First-year infielder Matthew Witkow has started his collegiate career hitting .255 overall but ranks fourth in the league for on-base percentage at .433.
Other key contributors include senior Jordan Kang (.273 average), who is eighth in the league for RBIs (13), sophomore left-handed pitcher Luca Alagheband (24 innings pitched), who ranks ninth among his peers for innings pitched so far this season, and sophomore right-hander Andrew Abler (24.1 innings pitched), ranking eighth.
The Crimson opened their season playing exclusively away games across several non-conference opponents before entering back-to-back Ivy League weekends at Columbia and now Cornell. According to preseason polling within the conference released earlier this year, Harvard was projected to finish fourth out of eight teams.
Following their road stretch conclusion at Cornell, Harvard will host Stonehill for its home opener on Tuesday before welcoming Brown for another three-game set next weekend.
