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FIELDING FIGURES RISE, BATTING MARKS FALL, AS NINE FACES TIGHTER HURLING
With the narrowing down of the baseball schedule and the improved pitching met with in games with more powerful teams, the batting average of the University nine has taken a decided drop. Investigation of the batting and fielding figures, exclusive of yesterday's tilt with Georgetown discloses that while the defense has tightened enough to raise its fielding record seven points, the hitting, despite the outburst against the University of Maine, has fallen ten notches. From a 304 mark the figure of the Crimson hitsmiths has shrunk to 294, the lowest since the southern trip, and the first average below 300 since the first week in May, when a 229 record brought the batters to the edge of the charmed circle.
Chauncey Takes Lead
The mortality has been heaviest among the hitters of the topmost flight, G. E. Donaghy '29 found the pitchers of Providence and the Alumni a puzzle, and fell from 420 to 358 in the past week, surrendering the team leadership to Henry Chauncey '28, who hit hard to raise his figure from an even 400 to 420. William Ullman '28 is another who found the opposing deliveries hard to fathom, and dropped from his third place ranking, with 348, to seventh among the regulars, with a mark of 293.
Other regulars maintained more consistent averages, gaining or losing only a few points in the week's engagements. H. W. Burns '28 now holds third place in the batting race. He advanced two points to 310, and stands three points ahead of W. W. Lord '28, whose 307 figure is just one better than his last week's average. J. P. Chase '28, who has broken in as regular left fielder since Lord has been shifted to first base, is the only other regular above the 300 deadline, with an average of 302.
Zarakov Rises
W. B. Jones '28 has fallen seven points with his fall to eighth place in the batting order. Captain Isadore Zarakov '27 has made the most notable rise of the week, jumping from 255 to 286. Zarakov hit well in the Alumni game, blasting out a home run, and previously in the Providence game, his timely single in the ninth won the contest for the University.
The team averages show marked provement over the figures shown by the University nine at a similar stage of last season. Records of the end of May, 1926, show that at that time the batting mark stood at .258, nearly forty points below the current figures, while the fielding averaged .939, seven points lower than the defensive average shown by the nine to date this year.
If the past week has shown a decided decrease in the numerical batting strength of the squad, there has been an encouraging tendency on the part of the Crimson batsmen to hit in the pinches. E. R. Duchin '27, inserted into the Providence game in place of Chauncey when Smith's left-handed shoots proved too much for the regular backstop, got his first hit of the season by blasting out a triple with two men on bases. Zarakov's hit, already noted, brought that game into the Crimson's winning column. Chauncey, batting for Duchin in the final inning of the Alumni game, singled to bring across the tying run that closed the hostilities.
Chauncey still leads the University sluggers. His ten hits for extra bases are divided into five two-baggers, two three-baggers, and three home runs. In doubles and home runs Chauncey leads the van, while Lord, who has lined out five three-ply wallops, is the leader in this department.
Burns stole six bases in the week, and his record-breaking total now adds up to 32. Donaghy and Jones, his nearest competitors on the base-paths, have pilfered seven sacks each.
In sacrifice hits Jones, who up until this week has occupied the second notch in the team batting order, shows the way with ten blows that advanced a teammate. Zarakov, batting third, shows only one less sacrifice.
Four Huriers Undefeated
A recast of the pitching records of the seven hurlers on the University squad shows four who have perfect scores. R. H. Booth '27 has won two games and lost none, while Willard Howard '28, E. L. Molloy '29 and Howard Whitemore '29, have each won one contest and have suffered no defeats. Of the hurlers who have appeared on the mound oftener, J. N. Barbee '28 is in the lead, with six wins and one loss, for an average of .857. R. R. Ketchum '29 has won three and lost one for .750, and F. B. Cutts '28, with three victories and two defeats, ranks at .600.
Three teams have been shut out by the Harvard pitchers. Barbee whitewashed the Springfield nine 5 to 0 and Amherst 8 to 0, while Cutts hurled a scoreless battle against Bowdoin, 3 to 0.
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