Crimson Nine Seeks Win In League Contest Today

Hopeful of having at last found its collective batting-eye, the varsity baseball team will go after its second win in Eastern League competition against Brown this afternoon. Gametime for the Soldiers Field contest is 3 p.m.

Until last weekend's Army game, The Crimson batting attack had been rather feeble, with only a 20-run barrage against a flock of nothing-pitchers from Brandeis to offset several other singularly unproductive efforts. But against the highly-regarded Cadets, the varsity hitters showed new signs of life in pounding out 12 safties, good for a 9-5 victory.

Particularly encouraging was the performance of the first five hitters in the Crimson line-up. Kent Hathaway, the number-five man, got four singles and five runs-batted-in; while Bob Cleary, Mo Balboni, and Frank Saia--who precede Hathaway--had two hits apiece.

It is quite possible that an offensive of somewhat smaller proportions will suffice to defeat this afternoon's opponent, for the Brown batsmen have been having an even harder time of it than their Crimson counterparts.

The Bruins were shutout twice last week, by Yale and by Army, and they fashioned only three hits in edging Rhode Island State by a 3-2 score on Monday. So far this season their team batting-average stands at something like.091--a statistic which recently moved coach Lefty Lefebvre to observe: "We aren't hitting at all."

Lefebvre has nominated Don Nelson to pitch for the visitors today. Nelson pitched a respectable nine innings against Army, allowing just two earned runs.

Brigham to Start

Dave Brigham will start on the mound for the Crimson. Brigham also faced the Cadets last week, permitting but two hits in seven and two-thirds innings. His only difficulty was control--six walks got him into considerable trouble and a bad streak of wildness eventually forced his removal in the eighth inning.

Crimson coach Norman Shepard plans to call on Gerry Emmet and Dave Kipp for relief-work, if Brigham should falter. He will probably save Herb Scheiner for Friday's game against Princeton, and Byron Johnson for the Columbia contest on Saturday.

Against Brown his lineup will be the same one that opened against Army. This means an outfield of Balboni, Hathaway, and John Getch; and an infield of Tom Bergantino at third, Mouse Kasarjian at short, Cleary at second, and Saia at first. John Davis will do the catching.