Baseball Team Tromps Northeastern, Extends Unbeaten Skein to 8 Games

Righthander Andy Luther held Northeastern to live hits yesterday as the Crimson baseball team shellacked the Huskies, 5 to 0, extending its unbeaten string to eight games.

Luther's win, his third of the season, was yet another stellar pitching job for Harvard this spring; in 77 innings of play, Crimson hurlers have yielded only 11 runs.

Harvard batsmen presented Luther with a cozy margin in the first inning. Reliable Skip Falcone led off against inexperienced Husky pitched Steve Grolnic and beat out an infield hit. George Neville, the club's leading hitter, followed with a perfect hit-and-run shot between first and second which advanced Falcone to third base.

Mike Patrick scored them both with a line-drive double off the right fielder's glove, and came home on a triple by captain Tom Stephenson.

Before the exophthaimic Groinic had retired a single batter, Harvard led, 3 to 0.

The first four men in the lineup also accounted for Harvard's other two runs in the fifth inning. Falcone singled up the middle, Neville sacrificed him to second, and after Patrick had flied out, Stephenson smashed a home run. It was the first round tripper for Harvard in eight games this season.

Yesterday's contest was the first installment of a gruelling home stand in which the Crimson will face many of the top Eastern League contenders.

At 3 p.m. this afternoon Harvard will face a rugged challenge from Boston University. The Terriers opened their season against Connectticut Friday. After UConn grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning, brilliant senior righthander Bob Walsh came in to relieve and pitched eight and one third innings of one-hit ball. Center fielder Jack Mahoney went four-for-four with two triples and led B.U. to a 5-3 victory.

Coach Norm Shepard will probably start Lee Sargent today. The converted third baseman was a 1-0 record this season and a respectable 0.75 earned run average. Shepard is saving ace southpaw Paul Del Rossi for tomorrow's contest against Eastern League powerhouse Brown.