Harvard University baseball will travel to California Baptist University for a four-game series from March 13-16, according to a March 10 announcement. The games will take place at James W. Totman Stadium in Riverside, California, and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
This series marks the final non-league matchups for Harvard before the start of Ivy League play. It is also the first time Harvard and California Baptist will meet on the baseball field.
The opening game is scheduled for Friday, March 13 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (6:00 p.m. Pacific Time), followed by games on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday with similar evening start times. Senior infielder and right-handed pitcher Gio Colasante has been named to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Watch List and currently ranks second in home runs and ninth in runs batted in within the Ivy League. First-year infielder Matthew Witkow has started his collegiate career with a .333 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage, ranking third in OBP and sixth in OPS among Ivy League players.
Senior Jordan Kang has contributed a .300 batting average along with nine hits, five runs, six RBIs, and a .405 OBP this season. He recently hit .500 during Harvard’s series against Liberty from March 6-8. On the pitching side, sophomore left-hander Luca Alagheband holds a 5.65 earned run average with ten strikeouts over fourteen innings pitched; he threw six shutout innings against Rice on February 28. Sophomore right-hander Andrew Abler has posted a 5.79 ERA with ten strikeouts over fourteen innings and ranks eighth in opposing batting average among Ivy League pitchers.
Harvard began its season with a road stretch that includes series at Tulane, Rice, Liberty, and now California Baptist—totaling twenty consecutive away games before returning home. In preseason polling for the Ivy League Baseball standings, Harvard was selected to finish fourth out of eight teams.
The Crimson returns several key hitters from last season such as Colasante (.314 average), junior Tyler Shulman (.291), and junior Jack Rickheim (.276). Key pitchers returning include Colasante (36 strikeouts last year), Alagheband (28 strikeouts), and junior Ryan McHugh (team-high four saves).
Following this West Coast trip, Harvard will open Ivy League play with a three-game series at Columbia beginning March 21.
