Lincoln Pitches Shutout As Crimson Tops M.I.T.

The Harvard baseball team rode Bob Lincoln't six-hit pitching and the clutch hitting of Bill Cobb and Dan Hootstein to a 3-0 Greater Boston League victory over M.I.T. yesterday at a cold Splinter Stadium.

Lincoln kept his booming fastball under control -- for a change -- whiffed five Engineers, and managed to work out of three serious jams.

But while the big righthander was spiking M.I.T., his teammates were having fits with Engineer hurler Bob Kiburz. For the first six innings, Kiburz twirled a tough knuckler and a sneaky fastball past the Crimson, yielding only three hits.

Finally in the seventh, Harvard beamed in on Kiburz's stuff. With one out, scrappy Nelly Houston slapped a ground single to left -- a grounder was about the only way to get around M.I.T.'s brilliant leftfielder Jeff Weissmann -- and stole second.

Rally Kept Alive

Lincoln field out, but Phil Smith kept the rally alive by drawing a base on balls. Then Cobb drilled a hit to center, driving in Houston, and after Cobb swiped second, Hootstein's liner just over the shortstop's outstretched glove brought in Smith and Cobb.

This brief but lusty flurry was the game's only run-making, although M.I.T. mounted its third threat of the game in the top of the eighth. After giving up two singles with no one out, Lincoln bore down and got the next three batters on fly balls.

In the Engineer seventh, Harvard centerfielder Carter Lord -- robbed of an extra base hit in the first inning by one of Weissman's seven spectacular grabs -- saved Lincoln's shutout with a strong throw, holding a runner at third base.

The win brought Harvard's overall record to 10-7, its GBL record to 3-0. The Harvard freshmen also beat the M.I.T. freshmen, 12-0. The Crimson takes on Boston University in another GBL contest this afternoon here.