Sluggers Open Division Play Against Yale

For the major league scouts sent to analyze Princeton’s prospective pair of first-round draft picks, Ross Ohlendorf and B.J. Szymanski, the math responsible for the Elis’ victory last Friday must have seemed rather implausible.

On the one side of the equation sat Szymanski, your archetypal five-tool athlete, widely regarded as one of the most talented outfielders in all of college baseball. And taking the hill of Yale Field was the Tigers’ ace Ohlendorf, an elite, 6’5 flame-thrower who throws 95 m.p.h. heat.

These two opponents, generally speaking, do not add up to a 2-1 Yale upset.

But Szymanksi went hitless in three at-bats, and Ohlendorf—who had a perfect game going into the contest’s seventh and final inning—ultimately took the loss. What was once highly improbable became reality, and for that odds-defying feat, the Bulldogs can thank freshman pitcher Mike Mongiardini, who kept the Elis in it until Zac Bradley stole home to win the game.

The question which remains of course, is whether he can do it all again.

The division-leading Crimson (13-9-1, 7-1 Ivy) will roll into New Haven, Conn. tomorrow for a four-game series against the Elis for the season’s very first weekend of Red Rolfe play.

And make no mistake about it—the main reason that the formerly cellar-dwelling Yale (10-14, 5-3) has a newfound hope stands at about 6’2, and has a fastball deceptively topping out in the high 80’s.

“Mike’s the kind of pitcher that—if he has his good stuff—will get absolutely anyone out, it doesn’t matter who it is,” Bulldog reliever Brett Rosenthal said. “He’s a gamer, he works hard and he basically had one bad outing the whole year. He’s been dominant every other time out, and any time he goes to the hill he has a chance to put up a four-hit game like last week.”

Mongiardini—who currently reigns as Ivy League Rookie and Pitcher of the Week—had given up 15 earned runs in 13 innings pitched before his epic duel against Ohlendorf last week. But seven innings, nine strikeouts and one complete game win later, Yale head coach John Stuper may choose to throw the first-year into the fire once again in the Elis’ opener against Harvard. Mongiardini would be matching up against either senior Jason Brown or sophomore Matt Brunnig, who is currently recovering from an elbow injury.

The Crimson, however, is undeterred by the prospect.

“Our own pitching has been as good as any pitching in the league,” sophomore infielder Zak Farkes said. “Our four starters are going pretty good right now, and if it’s not our bats this weekend, it’ll be our pitching that’ll [come through]. ”

Harvard currently maintains a 3.00 ERA against Ivy opponents, but Yale has stayed close behind.

While the Crimson machine has been averaging 5.75 runs thus far in Ivy League play—surrendering an even three runs per game—the Bulldog’s numbers are not far back, with a 5.25 run/game average and a 3.75 ERA. But where the similarities between numbers have ended, Harvard’s seven-game win streak has begun.

“We’re not going to lose that killer instinct,” junior catcher Schuyler Mann said. “It’s good that things are packed up [in the division], that things are close. Last year at this time we were a .500 club in the Ivies, and we had to win every weekend at the end to win the division, and we did. Our team will respond to that must-win feeling.”

Joining Mongiardini on the mound against the Crimson this weekend will be starters Alec Smith, John Hollis and perhaps the most dominant hurler of the group, Josh Sowers, who is creating a bit of buzz amongst professional scouts himself.

His twin brother, Vanderbilt’s All-American Jeremy Sowers, was selected in the first round out of high school and is considered by some to be the top collegiate prospect in the country. The younger Sowers currently serves as Yale’s staff ace as a junior.

But the team’s general youth—while seen by Rosenthal as responsible for some of the teams’ new influx of talent—also has its downsides.

“Their whole lineup consists of basically freshmen and sophomores,” sophomore pitcher Frank Herrmann said. “If you look at us, you’ll see guys who have been doing this for two or three years—Sky, [senior pitcher/first baseman] Trey [Hendricks], [captain centerfielder Bryan] Hale. They’re not going to back down, and we’re going to use our experience to take advantage.”

Herrmann’s teammates see that exact same opportunity against the freshman that out-dueled one of their conference’s most fearsome pitchers in Ohlendorf.

“I know [Mongiardini’s] a young pitcher, a lefty, so he must keep the ball down,” Farkes said. “I for one have never seen him pitch, but I’m looking forward to facing him. We’re going to bunt, run, get to him early. We’re going to put pressure on him and see how he deals.

“We’re going to hopefully get a lot of guys on base, and force him to make a mistake—and when you make a mistake, any one of our guys can hit it out of the ballpark.”

If all goes as planned, hopefully the math will be a little more elementary.

—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.