Crimson Nine Edges Springfield; Hootstein's 3 Hits Pace 4-3 Win

Dan Hootstein broke out of his early season slump to lead the Harvard base ball team to an exciting 4-3 win over Springfield College at the losers' home field yesterday afternoon.

The junior right fielder contributed three singles to the Crimson's six-hit at tack, drove home two runs, stole a base, and scored the tie-breaking fourth run in the sixth inning.

Harvard took advantage of the Springfield hurler's early wildness to jump off to a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Leadoff man John Dockery was hit by a pitch, and George Neville and Jeff Grate drew walks to load the bases with no one out.

Hootstein then lined a single to center, driving in Dockery and Neville. Grate moved to third and carried home the third run when Jim Tobin hit a sacrifice fly to center.

Junior Larry Melfa made this lead look golden as he mowed down the Maroons without a hit for three innings, but Springfield exploded in the fourth.

A single, a 380-foot home run, a triple, and a sacrifice tied up the ball game and broke Melfa's string of twelve scoreless innings compiled over three games.

Neil Houston, who singled in the second, and Grate, who singled in the third, were the only Crimson baserunners after the first inning, as Springfield's DeMond kept the game in control in the middle credited with a save.

In the field the Crimson played almost flawless ball, and coach Norm Shepard called it "our best game of the season."

Tobin, senior third sacker, was the game's defensive star as he handled five chances in the last three innings. innings.

With one out in the sixth, Hootstein singled to center and promptly stole second. Tobin, who led the team with a .351 average two years ago, stung a hard shot past the third baseman to drive in Hootstein with the winning run.

Sophomores Jim Sersich and Bob Lincoln combined to hold the slim lead the rest of the way.

Sersich struck out four in three innings while allowing only one hit to pickup the win. Lincoln retired six straight men in the last two innings and was Box Score   ab  r  h  rbl Dockery, if  3  1  0  0 Neville, cf  3  1  0  0 Grate, ss  3  1  1  0 Hootstein, rf  4  1  3  2 Tobin, 3b  3  0  1  2 Welz, 1b  4  0  0  0 Houston, 2b  4  0  1  0 O'Donnell, c  4  0  0  0 Melfa, p  1  0  0  0 Lord, ph  1  0  0  0 Sersich, p  1  0  0  0