Batmen Face Crucial Series Against Cadets and Big Red

The Harvard baseball team embarks upon the most important weekend of its season today, and thanks to the rain which washed out two games against Princeton and Boston College, the pitching staff is well rested for the three EIBL games to be played at Soldiers Field. Today's game against Army starts at 3 p.m., and on Saturday Cornell will be in for a doubleheader that will start at 1 p.m.

Sophomore righthander Norm Walsh has been pitching well in relief all year, and coach Loyal Park has given him the starting nod against the Cadets. Park is saving his two aces. Roz Brayton (6-0) and Sandy Weissant (5-0), for Saturday in hopes of sweeping the Big Red out for first place in the EIBL.

Going into the weekend, Cornell leads the league by percentage points with a record of 4-1 compared to the Crimson's mark of 5-2. Cornell plays against third place Dartmouth (5-2-1) today, and needs to win two of this weekend's three games in order to maintain its advantage in the tight race for the championship.

Last year Harvard took a doubleheader from Cornell up at Ithaca, winning the second game on an unearned run, 1-0, and it is very likely that Saturday's games will also be pitchers' duels. Righthander John Daugherty (3-1) will be starting the first game with an ERA of 1.76, and in the second the Crimson will see one of three proven lefthanders, probably either John Mikinis (2-1), who has allowed less than two earned runs a game, or junior college transfer Fred Anyzeski, who is 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA.

Cornell's overall record is 11-6-1, but that includes a spring trip to California against some of the best teams in the country. The Big Red compiled a 4-3 record in the Riverside Tournament, and Anyzeski beat Arizona State with a four-hitter, 4-1. Arizona State had been ranked number one in the NCAA at the time, and is now fourth with a record of 40-3.

Cornell coach Ted Soren considers his offense only average, but he has several hitters who can break up a close game with the long ball. Third baseman Tom Boettcher hit a two-run homer in the Arizona game, and just last week catcher Joe Meo homered with two out in the last inning to beat Brown, 3-2. First baseman Fred Hoge is a .300 hitter, and shortstop Chris Stocke is second in the EIBL with a 476 average.

The Cadets are mired in a rebuilding year, and are 2-5 in the league and 5-9 overall. Hitting is the big problem, and even though there are three .300 hitters in the line-up, the team batting average is an anemic .219.

A likely starter for today's game is Flynn Andrew, whose 3.18 ERA has been good enough to keep his record unblemished at 0-0 in 23 and two-thirds innings.