Crimson Nine Favored to Win Today Against Experienced Bulldog Batsmen

Being a big gun on the baseball circuit has its problems as well as its obvious rewards. Harvard has done very well in Eastern baseball for quite a few years now, so everyone in the East is anxious to knock the Crimson off in any and all meetings.

Take Yale for example--the Crimson meets them here today, and the Elis have been generous enough to schedule their aco pitcher Bob Corcoran to hurl against Harvard.

Corcoran shut out Army a week ago, allowing only three hits and picking up nine strikeouts in the process. He's very good.

Yale, while generally becoming less competitive in most Ivy sports, still is quite good in a few others, baseball among them. This year especially they have a tough club.

According to coach Loyal Park the Elis have their strongest team in four years making the trip to Cambridge today and, along with Penn, Brown and Cornell, they will be very strong in the Ivy League.

The biggest reason for Yale's strength this year is experience. Most of the Eli players have been together for four years now, and have jelled into a strong-hitting team with good pitching.

Harvard, on the other hand, has a young team with only a couple of real power hitters and excellent pitching, and the Crimson plays a different brand of ball than it did in previous seasons.

Two years ago hitters like DiMichael and Varney blasted balls over fences for the Crimson all the time. In the absence of that sort of power hitting, Harvard has turned into a running, hustling ball club.

Both Harvard and Yale have one loss apiece in the Ivy League. Harvard dropped a close one to Penn, 3-2, while Cornell dumped the Blue in the first half of a double header last Saturday.

Pitching and Hustle

Harvard's pitching and hustle give it an edge going into today's game, but the Crimson's big hitters, Hal Smith batting .400 and Dave St. Pierre at .350, will have to come through to insure a win.

Park has given the nod to Harvard's number one pitcher Roz Brayton against Yale. Brayton has one loss this season, to Penn, and has compiled a 1.00 ERA so far.

Ric LaCivita, after moving around the infield all Spring, has finally settled at second for the duration. Ed Durso, Jim Stoeckel and Leigh Hogan round out the infield with Rich Bridich handling the plate assignment.

Captain Kevin Hampe, who has hit well in key situations, and the power duo--St. Pierre and Smith--will roam the outfield for the Crimson.

Park is stoic about being the target of so many teams in the East. "That's what comes from doing consistently well," he said yesterday.

"What the hell," he added with a shrug, "If you can't beat their best you don't deserve to win--right? I won't get worried until they stop putting their best against us."