Praying to Ithaca

It's out of their hands.

"Coming into last weekend, we knew everything depended on us," Harvard baseball captain Charlie Santos-Buch said. "Now it's different. If Cornell doesn't lose to Princeton or Navy, we'll finish second and there's nothing we can do about it."

When the Crimson departed for Yale Friday morning it owned the top mark in the Eastern League, a glowing 7-1. Now, after a disastrous Friday in New Haven and a disappointing Saturday at Brown, the slumping (three losses in four games) Harvard nine will try to pick up the pieces and recapture some momentum tomorrow in a home contest against UMass.

But even if they win all of their remaining three league games--league-leading Cornell on May 9th and a twinbill against Army the next day--they won't win the Eastern League unless the Big Red comes up short somewhere along the line. With six games remaining, Cornell could conceivably lose a couple, especially since it has yet to face EIBL powers Navy and Princeton, not to mention the contest with the Crimson. If it does, Harvard can cop the title by winning its last three. If it doesn't, that's it.

And that's why the weekend was such a blow. "I feel reasonably certain Cornell will lose one along the way," Santos-Buch said. "Every night, I pray that they do, 'cause if they don't, whatever we do doesn't matter."

Meanwhile, the non-league games continue: UMass today, Boston College tomorrow, Tufts Friday. The pitching situation is still up in the air, but one thing is for sure--ace Ron Stewart will face Cornell next weekend. A good bet for the Army games would be Bill Larson and Rob Alevizos--the pair who turned in fine performances against Brown.

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I JUST CAN'T RESIST DEPT.--Elswhere on this page, our esteemed NHL prognosticators throw logic to the winds and pick the Islanders over the Sabres in their semifinal round clash. Don't bet on it--Vezina winners Sauve and Edwards will shut down the hot-and-cold Iles to advance into the finals. You heard it here.