A .500 Philosophy

The Harvard baseball team has split its last six games. When you're hitting .500, you're phenomenal. When you're playing .500, you're philosophical.

"That's the way these things happen," said Captain Dan McConaghy, after the Crimson pulled out a come-from-behind win against MIT last Wednesday. "They fall in eventually."

The Crimson is out-batting its EIBL opponents .303-.269 and GBL opponents .292-.247. Harvard amassed 25 hits in its last two games, yet it struggled in both the MIT match-up and its loss to B.U., edging the Engineers, 6-5, and falling to the Terriers, 10-6.

Sometimes, the Crimson is getting the big hits, but as its 9-12 overall record (3-5 EIBL, 5-2 GBL) indicates, Harvard cannot put away its opponents. The Crimson pounds the ball, but it can't break through the holes and start the rallies.

"They're hanging tough," Coach Alex Nahigian said.

Shortstop Dave O'Connell is one of the Crimson's players who attacks each game. In addition to batting .292, O'Connell has been stellar in the field with a .932 fielding percentage. A vaccum, a black hole, O'Connell solidifies Harvard's infield and stifles opposing hitters.

"He made big league plays [in the MIT game]," Nahigian said. "He's the glue in our infield."

Scoop du Jour: In the third inning of the game, Engineers' shortstop Pillan Thirumalaisamy pounded 0-1 Ubert pitch that had hit written all over it. Deep in the hole, O'Connell dove to his left, bent his body to the right and snagged the ball. He then fired to first baseman Rich Renninger to catch Thirumalaisamy by at least a foot.

Ozzie who?

Renninger made a tough play of his own in the third inning of the B.U. game. Terriers' DH Mitch Goldstein sent a towering pop fly down the first base line. Battling the sun and the edge of the grass, Renninger bowled into the fence, but held on to the ball.

Renninger is also clubbing the ball. In the Navy and Penn series last weekend, Renninger collected six hits, and had nine hits for the week to keep his batting average above the .400 mark.

What a Name

Thirumalaisamy wins the name of the week award. Its a good thing the Terriers don't put their names on the back of the uniforms. Then again, they probably removed the names when T-h-i-r-u-m-a-l-a-i-s-a-m-y made the team. Credit Sports Information Director Jeff Bradley, who had to pronounce the name four times.

The biggest surprise in the B.U. game was looking into the Terriers' dugout andseeing--of all things--a New York Yankees jacketbeing worn by the B.U. trainer. I always thoughtno Yankees fans were allowed in New England, or atleast we should try to be inconspicuous