Nine Opposes Colgate Today, Aims at New Winning Streak

Coach Norm Shepard will probably start Ken Rossano when the Crimson nine tries to start a new winning streak against Colgate this afternoon at 3:45 at Soldiers Field, weather permitting. The varsity's record stands at eight wins and two losses going into a two-game home weekend which also features an Eastern League game against Navy tomorrow.

Rossano, victor over M.I.T., Tufts, and Columbia, and loser only to Quantico Marines, has the best earned run average on the team. He has allowed only 0.48 earned runs per nine innings pitched. Shepard's other possible starter, Bob Kessler, who also has won three while losing one, has a 2.39 ERA. Andy Ward, who will probably pitch against Navy tomorrow, has compiled a 1.47 ERA in winning his two decisions.

Colgate's veteran team also boasts a fine pitching staff, and the Crimson may have to come through in the clutch, as it did against Richmond, George Washington, Tufts, and Columbia, to win today.

The varsity's .258 batting average is not really indicative of the team's strength at the plate, for the Crimson has several players who can come through with a decisive hit. Don Butters, whose tenth-inning home run won the Columbia game, has a .214 average, but leads the team in runs batted in, with eight.

Rightfielder Matt Botsford will carry a .400 average into today's game, and lead-off man Dick Hoffman is close behind at .389. First baseman John Simourian is third with a .333 average. Hoffman, the left fielder, and Botsford are tied for the lead in hits with 14, and Hoffman leads in stolen bases with six. Current Eastern League Standings Harvard  2-0  Columbia  2-2 Yale  2-0  Army  1-2 Brown  2-1  Navy  1-2 Dartmouth  2-1  Penn  1-3 Princeton  1-1  Cornell  0-2