Rain Cancels Crimson's Home Opener; Stewart, Larson Face Friars Today

Harvard baseball fans will have to wait until Wednesday for this year's home opener, as scattered showers and wet grounds forced the cancellation of yesterday's scheduled contest with Northeastern.

That game has been moved to Monday, but, because of conflicts involving the use of Soldiers Field, will be played at Northeastern, and the April 15th meeting with the Huskies will be moved here.

The Crimson travel to MIT on Tuesday and give the home rooters their first look the following day, hosting Boston College in a 3 p.m. start. Including today's doubleheader at Providence, Harvard will play five games in five days, requiring five different starting pitchers for Alex Nahigian's club.

Number-one man Ron Stewart (1-0) and freshman Bill Larson (1-1) will take the mound this afternoon against the hard-hitting Friars who sport a 6-4 overall mark. Bill Doyle, who combined with Larson for a doubleheader whitewash of Columbia last weekend, will put his 1-1 record on the line Monday, and Jim Keyte, a fireballing junior, will make his season's debut against the Engineers the following afternoon.

Maybe Someday

That means Nahigian will have to dig deep into the ranks for a hurler Wednesday. It won't be Stewart, who was scheduled to start yesterday and could go with three days rest. Nahigian is looking ahead to next weekend's twinbill with Dartmouth, and would prefer to save his top starter for the Eastern League contest.

"I would have liked to have pitched the home opener," Stewart said yesterday. "It would have been an honor. But Providence has a good team, and it'll be a challenge."

Rob Alevizos, who has been out of action with arm trouble, also won't start. Nahigian liked Alevizos' performance in a mid-week interquad game, but will use him in short relief until he's sure his arm is sound.

Right now, John Sorich or Greg Brown are the best bets, depending on how they throw in practice. Sorich had been slated as the top relief pitcher, but with Alevizos back he could also start. Brown, yet another freshman who has looked good this spring, throws hard but has been having control problems.

This may be because the California native is unaccustomed to cold-weather pitching. If the day is warm, he may get the nod.

Outfielder Chuck Marshall will be sidelined all week with a viral infection, and Billy Blood and Paul Scheper will platoon in right. Marshall should be back for the Dartmouth games.

Another possible scratch today is catcher Joe Wark. Leading the team with a .556 Eastern League average, Wark has been sidelined with a groin pull.

"If the trainer says he can play, he will," Nahigian said of Wark yesterday. "But, we don't want to aggrevate it and then lose him all week or longer."