In the third game of the Ivy League championships, senior Andrew Huling (bottom) is out at second but successfully breaks up a double play by bulldozing Princeton second baseman Jay Mitchell, whose throw to first is late. Huling entered the series batting .417 with a school record of 50 RBI. He leads the team in hits, runs scored, and stolen bases.

The Harvard baseball team won its third straight Ivy League title and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth in dramatic fashion on Sunday, May 9, by scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning for a 5-4 victory over the Princeton Tigers in the deciding game three of the Ivy League Championships at O'Donnell Field. Freshman designated hitter Faiz Shakir, a defensive specialist who was in the lineup in the nine hole because he is a left-handed hitter, delivered a clutch, two-run single to center field with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth for the game-winning RBI. Harvard senior pitchers Andrew Duffell and Garett Vail combined to close the door on the victory in the ninth inning.

Harvard (28-16, 16-4 Ivy League) must now wait until May 24 to find out which regional it will compete in when NCAA Tournament play begins May 28. Princeton (25-20, 15-5 Ivy League) finished its season as the Ivy League runner-up for the third straight year.

Both Harvard freshman starter Ben Crockett and Princeton freshman starter Tom Rowland were in control in the first three frames of the contest. The Crimson was able to take a 1-0 lead in the second inning off of a RBI single by freshman shortstop Mark Mager but Rowland kept the Crimson off-balance while recording a slew of groundouts. The Tigers were held hitless in the first three innings but got to Crockett in the fourth, when Andrew Hanson led off with a single and Matt Evans followed with a two-run home run over the right field wall to put Princeton up, 2-1. The homer was the 26th of Evans' career, setting a new Princeton record. Five batters later, Tigers' second baseman Jay Mitchell slapped a RBI single to center field and the Princeton lead grew to 3-1.

Harvard narrowed the gap to 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning, when senior second baseman Peter Woodfork reached with a lead-off single and then was driven home by senior catcher Jason Keck. However, Princeton pushed its lead back to two runs in the bottom of the seventh, when shortstop and nine-hole hitter Pat Boran sent a two-out Crockett pitch over the center field wall to make it 4-2.

Rowland allowed Woodfork to collect his third base hit of the day with two outs in the eighth but then got out of the inning with a ground out to second by Harvard senior center fielder Andrew Huling, who is the leading candidate for Ivy League Player of the Year honors with a .411 average and a school record 51 RBI.

After Duffell retired Princeton in the eighth inning, the Crimson was down to its final three outs. Keck led off with a single to right field but then Scott Carmack hit into a fielder's choice and Harvard was down to two outs. Freshman Josh San Salvador stepped in to pinch-hit next and he drove a single to center field. Princeton closer Jeff Golden then replaced Rowland on the mound, and Mager greeted him with an infield single to load the bases. Up to the plate stepped Shakir, who had a total of 4 RBI all season. After working the count, Shakir ripped a single to center to bring two runs home and give the Crimson a lead it would not relinquish.

Ryan Achterberg led off the bottom of the ninth with a base hit off Duffell but he was then picked off at first base with a heads-up throw by sophomore catcher Scot Hopps (who replaced Keck who had been pinch-run for). Vail got Mitchell to fly out to center and Boran to strike out looking to end the game.

Duffell improves to 3-1 with the win, while Vail picks up his third save. Golden falls to 1-1 with the loss.

The Crimson won game one, 8-7, despite a rally by the Tigers in the bottom of the ninth, and then it was the Tigers holding off a Crimson ninth-inning rally in game two for a 7-6 victory.