Unbeaten Yardling Batmen Best Tufts; Bender, St. Louis Lead 25-7 Runaway

The undefeated freshman nine slashed 18 hits in a lopsided slugfest with Tufts enroute to a 25-7 runaway victory yesterday at Soldiers Field.

Mike St. Louis and Andy Bender led the hitting barrage, as St. Louis drove in five runs and Bender chalked up four RBIs, including a three-run homer in the sixth inning. Rick Kurzweil also blasted a three-run home run shot over the left-field fence.

Tufts opened the game's scoring with three runs in the first inning with a home run with two men on base. Harvard held a slim 5-3 lead until the bottom of the fourth, when the Crimson exploded for nine runs to put the game out of reach.

"We have no problem holding our own with the bats," coach John Hughes said yesterday. "Our pitching was pretty good, considering this was the first chance for Mike [Lynch] and Fran [Cronin] to show their ability," he added.

Lynch hurled six innings, allowed six runs, three of them unearned, and gave up six hits.

Cronin pitched three innings in relief, allowing only a solo wind-aided round-tripper in the eighth inning.