CRIMSON RELIES ON STRENGTH IN FIELD IN INITIAL CLASH WITH BLUE TODAY

A squad of 25 players left Cambridge for New Haven at 9 o'clock yesterday morning for the opening contest of the annual baseball series with Yale today. Lunching at the Taft Hotel in New Haven the team had a light workout and went to the Clark Hotel at Derby, Conn. After the game today the team will go to Milton Academy to remain until noon tomorrow, when they will return to Cambridge for the second contest.

With Conlon back at short stop, the team will be at full strength in the field for the initial clash with the Blue. On the mound Yale might have a slight advantage today for Coach Slattery has definitely decided to save Goode for Wednesday. Very probably this will mean that Gehrke will start, although there is still a bare possibility that Russell may be given another opportunity. Gehrke was used for a number of innings against the difficult Tufts combination, but in spite of this fact he is the logical man, as Russell has had poor success in his last two games. Chittenden will doubtless be the Yale moundsman although he fell down in the Holy Cross contest, he has on the whole been a reliable man. Wight, who held Princeton to five hits last Saturday, has not had much experience, but his exhibition in that contest will result in pitching against the Crimson on Wednesday when he will have to face Goode.

Crimson Advantage in Field

In the field the University has a slight advantage, having given at times some brilliant performances, but there has been an occasional slump. The total number of Crimson errors has been considerably under that of the Eli fielders. Out of 24 games played there have been only 42 misplays credited to the University, while there are 72 errors in the Yale fielding averages for 26 games. But the Elis are not expected to give any medicare performance in the field today. In the Princeton game the team functioned almost perfectly and under pressure it has stood up well.

At the plate the New Haven team has more stellar performers though the average is slightly under the Crimson figure. Warren, Captain Aldrich, and Oed are all exceptional hitters who may be relied upon at any time, while O'Hearn and Mallory are less steady but dangerous batters.

Comparative records greatly favor the Crimson, for out of 24 games she has suffered only six defeats, while the Blue has had 11 setbacks and 18 victories. The Cornell nine, which the Crimson found little difficulty in defeating 18-0, gained an 11-8 victory over Yale but to effect this the Elis broke even with Holy Cross, winning the first contest by the score of 9-1 and losing the return game 5-2. Against this team the University has suffered two marginal defeats, both by a 2-1 score, but the second of these went to 15 innings of the very beat playing.