McCandlish Shuts Out Tiger Nine; Dockery Stars in 3-0 Crimson Win

The Harvard baseball team strangled Princeton 3-0 on Saturday as Jim McCandlish shut out the Tigers on two singles. And what few mistakes McCandlish made, John Dockery erased with a superb defensive performance in left field.

In the fourth, with Harvard in front 2-0, Princeton's Tom Peppler bashed a drive into left that seemed to be destined for Worcester. But Dockery caught the ball at full gallop with his back to the plate, falling as he pulled it in, and Peppler was denied an almost certain home run.

In the next inning, Dockery again made a running catch and then dashed in the opposite direction to haul in a long foul for another out. By the game's end, the Crimson captain had six putouts, few of them routine.

McCandlish didn't need a great deal of support. He allowed the Tigers their two hits in the third, and then didn't give up another for the rest of the game. The redheaded lefthander struck out five and walked four, but the Harvard infield compensated for the bases on balls with a pair of double plays.

Princeton's defense was almost as much help to McCandlish as Harvard's. In the first inning, George Neville walked and Jeff Grate chopped a single up the middle. Tiger center fielder Frank Biondi obligingly ran right past the ball, allowing Neville to score and Grate to move to third. Dan Hootstein quickly drove Grate in with another single.

In the seventh, the Tigers pitched in again after Jim Tobin legged out a looping double. Bob Welz smacked a hard grounder that slipped under the glove of Princeton second baseman Jeff Perry, and Tobin scored easily.

Harvard missed another opportunity in the sixth when Tiger pitcher Steve Cushmore walked three men to load the bases with one out. But Neville forced Neil Houston at the plate and Grate's long drive wound up in Biondi's glove.

The Crimson got only five hits off Cushmore, but Princeton's output was particularly embarrassing in view of their 13-8 pasting of Brown the day before. The two hits--a line shot into right by Cushmore and a bunt by Biondi--came consecutively in the third, but McCandlish retired the side on a strikeout and a popup.