[abell1198]

Harvard and Brown faced each other 14 times in the regular season, as they are in the same region. Each team won seven times, leading James to believe this series would go the distance. James brought his three oldest sons with him to Providence. Ephraim, who was 20 now, was still attending classes at Rutgers, but was still not seeing any time on the field. James Jr. was now 17 and would be looking to play ball for a college after finishing up his final year of high school. This was the first trip with his dad for Thomas, who had just turned 15. Thomas wanted to follow in Ephraim's footsteps and play collegiate ball, but he still had three more years of school before he could go to college.

Eric Weber and Matt Ogle were on the mound for Harvard and Brown for Game 1 of the Collegiate Championship Series. 1894 people showed up for the game, which would be played in 62 degree weather and a light wind blowing out to center. The first two innings were scoreless, but Harvard put a run on the board in the top of the 3rd inning, as sophomore left fielder Jeff Black led the inning off with a double and later scored on a sac fly. The 1-0 Harvard lead would be brief, however, as Brown came back to tie it in the bottom half of the frame. With two outs, junior third baseman Chris Ashworth singled to right. After stealing second, Ashworth would score on Kevin Scearce's base hit to left, beating the throw to the plate.

Brown would take the lead in the bottom of the 4th on Paul Hines' RBI single. Bears lead, 2-1. The score would remain the same until the bottom of the 6th, when Brown would extend their lead. The Bears scored three runs on three hits and two Crimson errors to give themselves a 5-1 lead after six innings. But Harvard would come storming back in the top of the 7th. The Crimson manage to plate four runs on four hits and two Bear errors, tying the game, 5-5. The game would stay tied until the bottom of the 8th. With men on the corners and two outs, Harvard shortstop, freshman Victor Fraser, botches a grounder, allowing the Bears to score. Brown scores another an a Bryan Myers single to make it 7-5. Harvard gets a man on first in the 9th with two outs, but he's picked off for the third out. Brown takes Game 1, 7-5, and leads the series 1-0.