Crimson Batmen Succumb to Yale, 4-0

It's not that Fridays in New Haven are so great to begin with, but yesterday was a particularly bad one for Loyal Park and the Crimson batsmen, as they fell to the Elis, 4-0, and in the process, proved beyond a shadow of a basecall cap that the results of Harvard's spring jaunt to Florida are about as meaningful as hourly grades.

Yale, you see, is hardly the Cincinnati Reds of the EIBL; The Milwaukee Brewers would be more like it. With a 3-21 slate entering yesterday's contest (0-6 in the EIBL), the Elis had gone 2-11 in Robert E. Lee country, and hadn't fared much better since.

But yesterday in muggy New Haven, it was Harvard which couldn't hit the heat of Yale's Charlie Castiglione, as he blanked the Crimson on eight well-spaced hits, only one of which, a fifth-inning double by Jim Peccerillo, went for extra bases.

For six innings, though, Harvard starter Tim Clifford was doing a pretty fair job of his own. After relinquishing a bouncing ball single in the first inning, Clifford fired goose eggs and didn't allow another hit until the seventh inning, when designated hitter John Nubani doubled home short-stop Pat O'Brien, who had drawn a base on balls.

But even so, Clifford entered the bottom of the eighth with a two-hitter to his credit, albeit on the short end of a 1-0 score. By the time the inning was concluded, Clifford was on the bench, and his Friday wasn't so good anymore.

As is so often the case, the inning began harmlessly enough, with a Greg Mathews single being sandwiched between two outs. And even after a single by Pete Riccio, there was no reason to panic. After Bob Hanway and O'Brien followed suit, however, there was because now the scoreboard read 3-0, and Clifford was running out of gas.

Enter Ken Petkunas, who ended the inning one single, one walk and one out later; but with a 4-0 deficit, Castiglione facing them, and only the ninth inning remaining, victory was, for all passed balls and wild pitches, beyong the outstretched gloves of the Crimson (now 13-7) batsmen.

With the exception of Dave Singleton, who had two singles, no Harvard batter could touch Castiglione for more than one hit. The latter's nine-inning totals included four walks and seven strike-outs; whenever he needed an out, he got it.

Clifford was also exceptional, out-pitching Castiglione for the first seven innings, but the Harvard freshman simply received no offensive support from his teammates. Obviously due to the heat...

This afternoon, Harvard continues its I-95 trip with a doubleheader in Providence against Brown, with whom the Crimson split a rainy Saturday doubleheader in Cambridge a year ago.

Both teams are evenly matched (meaning that neither is very good), so that while it is difficult to predict the outcome of today's contests, one thing remains certain about yesterday's game--it wasn't a very good Friday for the Crimson batsmen.