Harvard Nine Sweeps Doubleheader; Strong Pitching Sinks Middies 3-1, 2-1

It was a battle of pitching Saturday, as Harvard swept a tight doubleheader from Navy, 2-1 and 3-1, in Annapolis. Crimson starters Sandy Weissent and Don Driscoll combined with second game reliever Norm Walsh to limit Navy's offense to just nine hits in the two contests.

Despite the fact the season has hardly started, the two games were important ones for Harvard, keeping the squad up with a sprinting Penn team that is already 5-1 in Eastern League play. Penn edged the Crimson Friday and then took two from Dartmouth Saturday to give it a running start in league play. Harvard stands at 2-1 in the league.

Harvard struck early in both games and made the leads stand up under pressure. Third baseman Jimmy Stoeckel started things rolling in the third inning of the opener, scoring an unearned run. Stoeckel singled and then advanced to scoring position on a passed ball that moved him to third.

Wild Pitch

Right fielder Dave St. Pierre then struck out and all would have been rosy for Navy hurler Randy Young, except catcher Joe Zeni dropped the ball on the third strike and then threw wild to first, allowing Stoeckel to cross the plate with the first run.

Weissent ran into trouble in the third when Young doubled, Vincent Nigro walked and outfielder John Texeira bunted safely to load the bases with no outs. Evan Rasmussan then attempted another bunt but Young was picked off at the plate.

With the bases still loaded, Weissent hit the next batter, Steve Ogden, on the foot for Navy's only run of the game. Harvard got the winning run in the sixth on a single by shortstop Ed Durso and a run-producing double by captain Kevin Hampe.

Bad Inning

Driscoll had a no-hitter going in the second game up until the seventh and final inning. He ran across a lot of trouble in that inning, as Navy tied to rally from a 3-0 deficit, and was relieved by Walsh with one out and the bases full.

Navy got its only score on a weird hit by Teixeira that trickled past Walsh and went unfielded, allowing a run to score. Walsh then struck out Rasmussan to end the game and preserve the win.

Harvard got its runs in the first on an RBI single by Stoeckel, in the fourth on a wild pitch by Navy pitcher Lynn Champagne that allowed Stoeckel to score, and in the sixth on a single by Joe Sciolla than sent Hampe across the plate.