Crimson, Princeton Baseball Teams Meet Here

The Harvard and Princeton baseball teams, which start playing here at 3:45 p.m. have many things in common this year.

The two clubs tied for eighth place in the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League last year both have ex-American League stars coaching them, and both are counting heavily on their pitching to carry them to possible League honors. The Tigers bring a one and two League record to Cambridge and this game, like all EIBL contests, is crucial for both clubs.

Harvard is currently sharing first-place League laurels with Dartmouth, and a third loop victory this afternoon would leave it up to the Indians to keep pace.

In League play, the Tigers have lost to Navy (6-5) and Dartmouth (6-2), while heating Columbia (6-2). Their overall record to date is five and three, plus a the with Penn.

Emerson Dickman, former Red Sox pitcher who came out of retirement this season to coach the Tigers, claims that "pitching is 90 percent of college baseball . . . I want a tight defense and the best possible pitching." This sounds strange coming from an old American Leaguer, but Dickman, who worked for the Sox in the years just before the war, may have the pitching he is looking for in Bob Wolcott, Princeton's burler today.

Double Shut-Out

Welcott, one of two seniors on a sophomore-dominated pitching staff, gained fame two years ago when he became the first pitcher in Princeton history to shut out Harvard and Yale in the same season. As a sophomore that year, Wolcott compiled a 5-2 record and was the League's most effective pitcher with a 1.08 earned run average. Last year he lipped to 3-8 and so far this season he has stopped Vilanova (no a three-hit shutout) and Muhlenberg, and has been beaten by Navy. Totally blind in one eye, Wolcott has excellent control and can hit the corners well.

The Princeton infield is one of the best in the circuit. It is headed by shortstop Jim Fairchild, 20-year-old Marine vet who played varsity ball in 1946 while a freshman. Fairchild, an outfielder on the Second Marine Division nine last year, stole 54 bases against reasonably tough opposition. Besides pitching, Dickman also emphasizes speed, and Fairchild has speed. He has already swiped ten bases and is aiming for a League record in that department.

Runners Don't Move

Princeton has been averaging about nine hits per game but it has left a lot of runners stranded and has made several costly errors. The club's ranking hitter in 1948, Ray Thek, is back this year, having survived a sophomore rush which put four of the 13 returning lettermen on the bench. Walt Armstrong and Will Prior have been leading the Nassau hitting attack this spring.

Harvard's job is cut out for it; it must hit like it has in its last two games. As for pitching, chances are nobody will have to worry about Ira Godin.

The starting lineups: HARVARD  PRINCETON Dunn, ss  Kepler, cf Caulfield, lf  Gruber, lf Crosby, c  Fairchild, ss Coulson, 1b  Armstrong, 2b Moffle, 1b  Prior, c Neal, rf  Becker, 1b Mannino, 3b  Thek, 3b Cavanaugh, 2b  Skolnick, rf Godin, p  Wolcott, p