Batmen Clawed by Tigers, 9-0, Split Sets With Navy, 2-17, 3-1

Harvard's roller coaster of a baseball season, which peaked in Florida and has been downhill ever since, continued on its bumpy path this weekend, with one victory, two defeats, and the knowledge that the season is now just five games from completion.

Things started with a bang on Friday afternoon, but unfortunately it was the Princeton Tigers who did all the banging, as they eked out a 9-0 decision over the Crimson.

Four Harvard pitchers relinquished nine hits to the visiting Tigers, with the important ones coming in a two-run Tiger first inning off losing pitcher Tim Clifford. Clifford then got his act together and pitched credibly--until he lost control in the sixth, when Princeton scored three runs.

The Tigers had earlier tallied a single marker in the fourth, and when they exploded for three more off Jamie Werley and Paul McOsker in the eigth, the Crimson had nothing to look forward to but tomorrow.

But tomorrow, which is now two days ago, started off where yesterday, which is three days ago, left off. Today's (er, Saturday's) opponent was Navy, and in the first game of the doubleheader, the Midshipmen were about as kind as the Japanese had been at Pearl Harbor.

Just as Princeton had done the day before, Navy pummeled four Harvard hurlers for an identical number of hits and runs, but this time the magic number was 17.

Five Crimson errors hardly helped the cause of starter Larry Brown and three relievers; three Navy home runs (two by Ed Abner, one a grand slam) helped even less.

Baby Roller Coasters

It was 6-0 after three, twice that after four, and by now the weekend had but one tomorrow, the second game of the twin bill. And as everyone knows, even baby roller coasters have a little incline to them.

Thus, it was really no surprise that Mark Linehan six-hit the Midshipmen in that second game, allowing one run in the process as Harvard improved its overall record to 17-14.

The Crimson gave Linehan an early lead, as Dave Knoll led off the bottom of the second with his fifth home run and Harvard's first meaningful run all weekend. And additional score in that inning and single tally in the third off Navy starter and loser Bill D'Amico closed out the home team's scoring for the afternoon.

The Crimson's 1-2 performance over the weekend proves an accurate indicator of the team's spring. Its post-Florida record now stands at 6-12. Tomorrow afternoon (which really is Tuesday), the batmen travel to Waltham to play Brandeis, the GBL champ, before they close out their campaign with home contests against Cornell and Army (a doubleheader) next weekend. Rides are $.25 for children, $.50 for adults.