Crimson Ousted From NCAA Baseball Tourney

HOLYOKE, Mass.--"Well, it looks like them Harvards took their licks," a local fan chortled to another in the stands of MacKenzie Field here last evening, and indeed the Harvards had. When the dust--or mud, rather--had settled from last night's ballgame versus St. John's, the Crimson had lost its second shutout game in as many days, to drop out of the NCAA's Northeast Regional round-robin playoff tournament.

The Redmen drubbed the Crimson, 8-0, last night in a game marked by atrocious fielding and lackluster hitting, knocking Harvard out of the double-elimination tourney owing to the Crimson's controversial 1-0 loss to Delaware in Wednesday's opener.

Umpire Joe Driscoll halted that contest during a steady downpour with the Blue Hens leading in the top of the seventh at 1:30 p.m. Both squads remained in the dugouts until 4:30, then returned with rain still coming down hard at 9 p.m., but officials ruled conditions unplayable and Delaware owned a 1-0 win.

"A lot of small things--exams, the layoff--hurt us, but the biggest thing that was unfair to the team was that they called the game when they did," mound ace Larry Brown, who pitched well but lost his first game of the season against Delaware, said yesterday.

"It was raining just as hard in the second and third innings as it was when they suspended it, knowing full well it was going to rain for two more days," Brown added.

The Blue Hens pushed around their only run during a steady drizzle in the third inning. Fleet-footed centerfielder Gary Gehman barely beat out an infield single, stole second and third, and came home when Crimson catcher Chuck Marshall's peg skipped past Rick Pearce into left field.

Brownie, who was high and erratic in the opening innings after finishing a Gov 10 exam just an hour before gametime, settled down after that to keep the Hens cooped up through the sixth.

Mixed Bag

At the plate against Delaware, Harvard had a tough time of it, as 6-ft., 3-in. 220-lb righty Bo Dennis served up an impressive mixture of fastballs, sweeping curves, and uncharacteristic good control.

The Crimson batsmen did not help their own cause, though, blowing solid scoring chances in the first and the sixth. In the first, Charlie Santos-Buch led off with a sharp single, but Blue Hen catcher Herb Orensky gunned him down stealing.

Designated hitter Bobby Kelley followed with the first of three singles, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. The rally died, though, when superstar Mike Stenhouse drilled out to right, slugger Mark Bingham bounced into a forceout, and Jim Peccerillo fanned looking.

In the sixth, with the raindrops falling steadily, Kelley lined a single down the right-field line and Stenhouse pushed him up to second when he walked on four pitches. Bingham then forced out again, to set up a two-out, two-on situation for Peccerillo.

Deep Snag

"Pec" responded by drilling a 1-0 delivery deep and high to left-center, but Gehman circled under in front of the deep fence here at the Double-A ballpark and hauled it in for the out.

When the Blue Hens took the field in the top of the seventh, though, homeplate umpire Joe Driscoll raised his hands and sent both nines scurrying for the dugout. Despite the seven-plus hour wait, there was to be no more baseball in Holyoke Wednesday.

"We coulda gotten that guy [Dennis]," coach Loyal Park said yesterday. "I'm not a crybaby, but coming back we would have had him. What happened out there was inexcusable."

St. John's Slaughter

Thursday's game left no room for controversy. Redman righty Steve Bingham kept the Crimson at bay by booting the ball around and giving up six runs--five unearned--in the seventh and eight innings.

Starter Ron Stewart pitched adequately, but he failed to get the necessary support at the plate. Bingham fanned with Stenhouse on second and two down in the sixth. Stenhouse and Bingham, Harvard's leading hitters on the year, batted a combined 0-for-11 for the tourney.

Rick Pearce and Chuck Marshall bunched singles in the eighth, but Redman leftfielder Ron Naclerio doubled off Pearce on Santos-Buch's line drive.

"We just kicked the ball around today, and we just got beat," Park said afterward. And that was about all that was left to say on a day that was, in a word, pitiful.

Four teams remain in the tourney. Harvard will have to wait until next spring for another chance.