Crimson Baseball Team Must Sweep Vital Contests With Cadets, Bruins To Remain EIBL Pennant Contender

A very silly Harvard baseball team heads down to West Point for a crucial game with the Cadets today, and then faces Brown in Providence tomorrow. The Crimson seems to have developed a peculiar habit this year: it trounces strong teams and either loses or just ekes out a win over weak ones. That's plain silly.

In its Eastern Intercollegiate League play, coach Norm Shepard's varsity has lost to Pennsylvania and Columbia and romped over Navy, 9-1. Wednesday, it took the Crimson ten innings to squeeze by B.U. 5-4. Last year, Harvard defeated the Terriers 8-1.

If the Crimson has any fleeting hopes for a pennant it must win both its games this weekend. If it has any trouble with Brown, the boys might as well throw in their gloves. The Bruins have dropped 21 straight games in EIBL play, and it will probably be 23 after this weekend. Shepard isn't taking any chances, however, and will send Dick Garibaldi against the weak Bruins.

Army is a different matter. In fact, Army is practically a different league. Paul Del Rossi takes the mound against the Cadets and if he can duplicate his magnificent effort of last year, when he held them to one run and five hits, Harvard should emerge on top.

But, unless the offense comes out of its present lethargic state, Del Rossi's energy could go for naught. In its last 29 innings of baseball, the varsity has scored seven runs, three of which have been unearned. And in this same stretch it has come up with only one extra base hit--and that was a double. Gavin Gilmore presently leads the team with a .367 batting average.

The only other problem (besides its pitching and offense) is the defense. Really sloppy fielding has been a salient characteristic of recent games. The varsity must also improve its play in the field if it hopes to top the Cadets today.