Batmen Need Four Straight to Take EIBL

Boston College scored seven runs in the fourth inning yesterday, and then coasted the rest of the way behind the five-hit pitching of Bill Ruane to beat the Harvard baseball team, 7-1. Despite the loss, Harvard can still win the GBL championship for the second year in a row with a victory over Northeastern on Thursday.

The Crimson now turns onto the home stretch of the EIBL race, which it must win in order to qualify for the NCAA Division I title and a trip to the College World Series at Omaha. With a 7-3 record, the Crimson has run out of options, and in order to catch Dartmouth it needs a weekend sweep against Brown and Yale.

If Harvard should win all three games on Friday and Saturday, and if Dartmouth, which goes into the weekend with a 8-2-1 record, should lose a game, the league championship will be decided in a make-up game between Harvard and Princeton on Sunday.

The Tigers are tied with Harvard for second place with a record of 7-3. Unless either Harvard or Princeton win four straight, the Indians can wrap up the league title by winning two of their three games against Yale and Brown.

Tom O'Neill has appeared exclusively in relief since the southern trip, and in yesterday's game against the Eagles he pitched three good innings before running into control problems in the fourth. Kim Schappert came in with one out, and by the time he retired the side Boston College had scored seven runs to secure its third GBL victory. Earlier in the season, the Eagles beat Dartmouth, 8-5.

The Crimson had a bad day at the plate, and Toby Harvey as the only one to get two hits. Harvard's only run came in the fourth inning when captain Mike Thomas connected for his second home run of the season.

Despite the loss Thomas was optimistic about the upcoming games. "We're going to be really high for this weekend. Alot of the guys were out at Omaha last year, and we want to go back again." Thomas said. "We don't have the power of last year's team, and we know that each of us will have to produce if we are going to win the EIBL again."

Today Princeton will play last-place Army, and Dartmouth will be at New Haven for a single game against Yale. The Crimson will ravel to Brown, where Roz Brayton will face Bruin ace Bob Lukas, who is 2-2 against EIBL competition with an E.R.A. of 0.87.

Earlier in the season Brown was considered one of the favorites in the league, but with a 4-5 record it will need a three game sweep against the two toughest teams in the league to climb into the first division. "This is a young team." coach George Woodworth said. "And while we're well-disciplined. we just haven't been getting the big hit when we have needed it."

Scott Bingham. Bob Wieck and Steve Richter have all been hitting over .300 against EIBL pitching, but Woodworth feels that his team will be decidedly weaker against a lefthander. Roz Braton will be on the mound for the Crimson and with a 7-0 record and a 0.00 E.R.A. he is more than just a lefthander--he is the best pitcher in the league.

Even if the Crimson beat the Bruins, it will still need a sweep of Saturday's doubleheader against Yale to stay in the EIBL race. The Elis are 5-6 in league competition and 8-19 overall, but last weekend they showed their potential as spoilers by beating Brown twice.

Junior righthander Bob Corcoran tamed the Bruins for ten innings before his teammates could finally score a second run to win, 2-1, and sophomore Don Gallagher brought his record to 2-1 with a 6-2 victory. Corcoran leads the Elis in strikeouts and is obviously better than his 1-5 record would indicate. The Crimson will face both pitchers on Saturday.

Yale coach Ken MacKenzie, the only pitcher among the original New York Mets to leave the Polo Grounds with a winning record, has had to live with a line-up that would have made even Casey Stengel cry. First baseman Karl Lutz leads the EIBL in hitting with a .444 average and is .316 overall, but after that only shortstop Charley Thorne approaches respectability. As a team, the Elis are batting .211.

Sandy Weissent is a definite starter against Yale, and coach Loyd Park will go with either Mike O'Malley or Norm Walsh in the second game. If the makeup game at Princeton is played on Sunday. Brayton will probably be ready for three or four innings in relief.