Batsmen Batter Jumbos, 10-5, at Home

The fortunes of the Harvard baseball team are rapidly improving.

Saturday, Harvard pummelled MIT 13-1, and yesterday, it toppled Tufts, 10-5, at Soldiers Field for its second win in a row.

Tufts fell to 4-5, while Harvard moved to 6-8 on the year.

"We are playing solidly," senior pitcher Sean Johnston said. "Everyone is contributing. Every win has been a team effort."

Once again, Harvard's hitting proved the catalyst in the victory. Harvard immediately jumped on Tufts pitcher Marc Williams.

The Crimson registered 14 hits and nailed three home runs in the first three innings.

Second baseman Jim Mrowka lead the game off by ripping a 2-0 offering over the centerfield fence.

In the second inning, with one out and none on, designated hitter sophomore Dave Morgan followed suit.

Ahead 2-0 in the count, Morgan got a pitch too tempting to take and cranked it well beyond the left field fence to give the Crimson a 2-0 lead.

By the end of the inning Harvard had rattled Williams for another run as junior centerfielder Juan Zarate would triple home junior thirdbaseman Pat Hegarty on a hit and run play.

But the bombardment continued. The Crimson had more hits than sorties flown over Iraq.

Senior leftfielder Nick DelVecchio delivered the knockout punch to the Jumbos (yes, that's actually Tufts' name).

Williams walked junior right fielder Mike Hill and then proceeded to hit sophomore shortstop Mike Giardi on the arm (Giardi and freshman catcher Bryan Brissette would fall victim once more to Williams' Scud-like accuracy later in the game).

That set the stage for Delvecchio who blasted a three-run homer over the 375 mark in center.

Harvard led 6-0 at that point and that was all the runs the Crimson would need.

Behind the pitching of seniors Tom Hurley (1-2) and Sean Johnston, Tufts was thwarted in its come-back attempts.

Hurley started the game by retiring eight of the first nine batters he faced. Although Hurley ran into trouble in the fourth, he got the win.

Johnston relieved him in the sixth and allowed only one run and struck out six, including the side in the ninth.

"I felt pretty good and I felt loose out there," Johnston said.

Harvard puts its winning streak on the line today as it travels to Worcester to face Holy Cross. Freshman Jeff Mitchell will make his second start of the year.

HARVARD, 10-5 at Soldiers Field Park R  H  E Tufts  000  310  100  --  5  84 Harvard  123  000  400  --  10   15

HR: Tufts--Komboli, Cash; Harvard--DelGuiglio, Bagwell (2). 3B: Harvard--Zarate (2). 2B: Tufts--None; Harvard--Scanlan. E: Harvard--Mrowka; Tufts--Svagdis, Jason, Erickson, Walsh. WP: Hurley (1-2); LP: Williams (3-1)

HR: Tufts--Komboli, Cash; Harvard--DelGuiglio, Bagwell (2). 3B: Harvard--Zarate (2). 2B: Tufts--None; Harvard--Scanlan. E: Harvard--Mrowka; Tufts--Svagdis, Jason, Erickson, Walsh. WP: Hurley (1-2); LP: Williams (3-1)