Harvard and BC To Meet at Fenway for Beanpot Title

Photo Courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications.

What: 22nd Annual Baseball Beanpot Championship
When: Tuesday, April 26th at 7 p.m.
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Coverage: Beginning at 6:45 p.m. on 95.3 FM WHRB and WHRB.org with Bryan Dunmire (play by play), Brendan Roche and Charlie Hobbes (color commentary)

The Teams
Harvard (9-31, 5-11 Ivy): It's been a tough year for Harvard baseball to say the least. The Crimson started with a nine-game losing streak and came out of an arduous road trip of 1 home game in the first 22 of the season well below .500. The Ivy League has gone little better with Harvard 5 games out behind Red Rolfe division leading Dartmouth thanks to a 5-11 mark that places the Crimson squarely at the bottom of the Ancient Eight. With only four games remaining in conference play, an Ivy title is already out of grasp, but Harvard can still be champions with a win at America's Most Beloved Ballpark.
Boston College (14-24, 6-14 ACC): After two wins in Caravelle Resort Tournament to open the season, the Eagles fell somewhat flat, going 4-7 in the state of Florida to round out non-conference play (4-8 if you count a 6-0 shutout at the hands of the split-squad Red Sox, though that hardly seems fair to count). BC had some success as they headed back to New England, but a loss at Dartmouth started a streak where BC has only one once in their last ten tries. That one win came in the Beanpot though and the Eagles will hope that the Beanpot magic that's been at Chestnut Hill all year will snap them out of their current four game snide. At 7.5 games back with 9 conference games remaining, ACC hopes are still technically alive, but it looks like the only way BC can earn a championship this year is for the final leg of the Beanpot Triple Crown.

How They Got Here
Harvard took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as three pitchers combined for a five-hit 1-0 shutout over Massachusetts. Despite outhitting the Minutemen by a count of 10-5, the Crimson could not get on the board until the ninth inning, when Danny Moskovits hit a one-out single to send home baserunner Jack Colton, who had gotten on with a walk and then advanced to second on a sac bunt. Andrew Hatch (2-0), of LSU and Harvard football lore, got credit for the win, going 3 innings with 3 Ks and 4 hits allowed in relief.
Earlier last Wednesday, Boston College saw nine different pitchers combine for 11 Ks and only one run allowed as the Eagles defeated Northeastern 6-1. Nate Bayuk (4-4) picked up the win with his inning in the 6th. After the Eagles (2nd inning) and Huskies (4th inning) traded a run, the Eagles exploded for 5 runs in the 6th to seal the win.

Last Wins in Beanpot
Harvard: 2005 (longest current drought of all 4 schools)
Boston College: 2010

Common Opponents
Common opponents were Bryant, Northeastern and Holy Cross. Harvard is 0-5 against common opponents and Boston College is 2-2.  Harvard has yet to play an ACC opponent this season while Boston College is 0-1 against Ivy teams.

WHRB to Cover Football Spring Game Saturday

2011 Harvard Spring Game

When: Saturday, April 23rd at 7pm

Where: Harvard Stadium

Coverage: beginning at 6:30 on 95.3FM WHRB and whrb.org with Scott Reed, Charlie Hobbs, and Anton Khodakov.

Football makes a brief return to WHRB on Saturday when the Harvard Crimson take the field at the Stadium for an intra-squad scrimmage. Although it has been a relatively tame spring, there are several storylines to watch, from the race for the backup quarterback role behind Collier Winters to the emergence of new starters along the offensive line.

WHRB's 2010 football booth of Scott Reed and Charlie Hobbs will be joined by Anton Khodakov for Saturday's scrimmage under the lights. Coverage begins at 6:30pm with the Harvard Pregame Show, featuring interviews with Harvard Head Coach Tim Murphy and the 138th Captain of Harvard football, Alex Gedeon.

BREAKING: Baseball Beanpot Moved

Due to forecast inclement weather, the Baseball Beanpot has been moved to Northeastern University from Lowell and times have changed for the games as well. Harvard will now begin the late game against Massachusetts at approximately 3:30 p.m. Because of the last minute nature of the change, it is unclear if we will have the broadcast on 95.3 FM due to conflicts with our regular programming. We are hoping to still be able to provide at least an Internet feed of the game. We will update this post as more information becomes available during the night.

UPDATE: We will be able to provide the game at 3:30 p.m. thanks to the graciousness of our classical music department. So tune in on 95.3FM and WHRB.org starting at 3:20 for the pregame show. 

Men's Soccer: Haitian Team Roster and Facts

On Sunday, Harvard men's soccer will take on the Haitian national team in a charity match designed to raise money for relief of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Le Rouge et Bleu are currently ranked 99th in the world out of 202 FIFA nations. Haiti is a member of CONCACAF, the same continental grouping as the United States. Haiti's last major win came in the 2007 Caribbean Nation's Cup and their lone appearance in the World Cup was in 1974. They had 1 win, 2 losses and a draw in the 2009 Gold Cup, the region's biennial championship but failed to qualify for the 2011 edition. Haiti has played one international friendly this year, losing one-nil to El Salvador in February. They will play another, opponent TBD, in June in preparation for the 2014 World Cup Qualifying.

Because of FIFA's rules, Les Grenadiers will not be featuring their full strength 'A' squad, because clubs are only required to release players for FIFA sanctioned international friendlies. Therefore, the squad all play their domestic soccer for clubs in Haiti.

This game, to be held at Harvard Stadium on Sunday April 10, at 5pm, can be heard live on 95.3 FM and WHRB.org in English.


Below the jump, the roster and some facts about Harvard's opponent in this charity match.