Huskies Drop Crimson Nine

Northeastern's Jim Walker shut out the Crimson nine yesterday on ten hits and the Huskies capitalized on two costly Harvard mistakes, upsetting the Crimson at Parson's Field in Brookline, to further dim their chances of repeating as the Greater Boston League Champions.

Harvard stranded 13 men on base, and in five separate innings put a runner on second or third, only to be frustrated time and time again by some clutch pitching by Walker.

Don Driscoll pitched at least as well as his opposite number, but two key mistakes handed Northeastern the victory, their first over Harvard since 1965.

Mistakes Costly

The first came with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning and a man on first. Northeastern's Ted Whitehouse laced a clean single to right field that then bounced past Joe Sciolla on the treacherous and unfamiliar astroturf in produce the Huskies' first run.

The second came on a 2-2 delivery to Northeastern's Don Modugno in the bottom of the sixth. With one out and a runner on first. Modugno emashed Driscoll's pitch over the left field lence to stake the Huskies to an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

The frustration began for Harvard in the fourth inning, when with one out, Jim Thomas reached first on an error by Husky shortstop Joe Marani. Thomas then stole second, and reached third on a sacrifice fly by Leigh Hogan, but Dan Williams flied deep to center field to halt the Crimson threat.

One inning later Marni made a second error, Joe Sciolla reached first and things looked rosy for the Crimson nine when Leon Goetz was hit by a pitch while trying to bunt, placing runners of, first and second with nobody out. But once again Walker responded to the pressure, and quelled Harvard's hopes by first inducing a force-out at third then striking out Barry Cronin on a called third strike, and finally getting Sandy Milley on a grounder.

He pitched his way out of a similar jam in the seventh, when he forced a fly hall and then a grounder, to extricate himself after Jim Thomas had reached second on a double to left center.

The final frame saw the Crimson stctimized in a similar fashion Malley and Ed Durso led off with back to back singles, but Thomas flied out. Hogan grounded out, and Don Driscoll popped up to the catcher to end the game.

Besides Driscoll who pitched a perfect game until the disastrous fourth inning, the only other Crimson bright spot was Jim Thomas who went three-lot-five at the plate with two doubles.

The loss drops the Crimson's GBI record to an unimpressive 5-1 Harvard the defending champion, now looms as a definite underdog in its quest to retain the title.

Flimsy Fences

The Crimson beat Northeastern 34 earlier this season on a home run which was caught but was ruled out of play when the Husky fielder fell through the flimsy Soldiers Field tence. Northeastern's athletic director quipped yesterday before the game, "the fences are pretty strong in our park" Yesterday, though, Jim Walker didn't need that kind of help in defeating the Crimson nine at Parson's Field.