Holy Cross Holds Nine For First Shutout, 4-0

Holy Cross banged out ten hits yesterday in handing Harvard's baseball team its first shutout of the season 4-0. Pitcher Bill Close, striking out five Crimson batters, checked Harvard on two hits.

Harvard starter George Lalich got in trouble in the first inning when he walked the first two batter. Holy Cross first baseman Phil O'Neil then hit a grounder to Bill Cobb at third. Cobb made the play at third but overthrew first baseman John Ignacio and Holy Cross had its first run. A single to centerfield made it 2-0 before Lalich pitched out of the jam.

Bob Lincoln relieved Lalich in the second with two men on and ended another threat, but Holy Cross added a pair of runs in the fourth on three hits and two Crimson errors. After that, Lincoln held the Crusaders to three hits for the rest of the afternoon.

Harvard batters managed only one serious scoring threat during the game. With two outs in the second inning, a walk by Jim Cox and singles by Lalich and Jeff Grate loaded the bases, but Dick Manchester grounded out to the second baseman, and that was it for Harvard.

Holy Cross rooters were out in force and took turns baiting Carter Lord, Bill Cobb and Jack Turco. The attitude spread to the players, and at times the last four innings resembled football more than baseball.

Outfielder Jim Lee of Holy Cross attempted to run over Turco in the sixth inning after a throw from the outfield had beaten him to the plate by five feet.

In the seventh, O'Neil, Holy Cross' quarterback last fall, tackled Grate as he tried to make it back to first following a fly to the outfield.

Coach Norm Shepard experimented with Jim Cox in rightfield and Jim Reynolds in left. Both played fine defensive games and drove Holy Cross outfielders to the fences to catch their drives. Neither collected a hit in four trips to the plate but yesterday that ranked them even with established Crimson sluggers.

The victory over Harvard was the first for Holy Cross since 1964. Harvard is now 6-5, while the Crusaders are undefeated in their three games to date.

Today the squad will meet Brown at 2 p.m. at Soldiers Field.

Overall, this team is better than its performance of the past two weeks--3 losses and one win--but time is beginning to run out.