The Homecoming

From the luggage racks to the faulty air conditioning to the little red sign that says "Watch step down," the Harvard baseball team knows the inside of a bus as well as anybody.

Thirteen games into their 31-game schedule, the bat men have yet to enjoy a home field advantage. You couldn't tell it from the Crimson's 10-2-1 overall record or its 2-1-1 Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League mark, but the squad has still not played a game on Soldiers Field.

"We've been a pretty good club on the road," says Coach Alex Nahigian. "But obviously, it's nice to be home."

After over three weeks of wandering. Nahigian and Co. look forward to the 10-game home stand that starts today against Branders and continues through a May 1 date with Brown.

"It's about time we played a home game," sophomore Chris Schindler says.

"We've been on the road it seems like forever," shortstop Tony DiCesare adds.

The travelling act was scheduled to sprout roots yesterday in a contest with Holy Cross. But puddles near second base forced postponement of the home opener.

"It was a blessing in disguise for us," DiCesare says of the delay. "We're pretty worn out."

A four-day bus trip can do that to you Back-to-back doubleheaders didn't help. While 6000 masochists ran from Hopkinton to the Pru, the batmen were involved in their own marathon.

The Harvard bus left from Dillon Field house Friday at 3:30 p.m. and arrived in Princeton 5 1/2 hours later. The Crimson woke up to rain Saturday morning, hopped on the bus for the 2 1/2-hour trek to Nervy and spent the day at their motel. Sunday came a twin bill with the Midshipmen, complete with rain delays. Then it was back to New Jersey for the makeup doubleheader with the Tigers. The squad arrived back in Cambridge at 11:30 p.m. Monday night.

The result: a win and a six-inning--called because of darkness--tie at Annapolis, a split with Princeton and an overwhelming sense that there's no place like home.

"A lot of miles, I'll tell you that," says senior Ed Farrell of the approximately 16 hours he spent on the bus this weekend.

It was a tired Harvard team that dropped the opener, 6-0, before coming back in the nightcap, 6-1, at Princeton Monday. What other explanation can there be for Tiger Steve Kordish's two-bitter in the opener? Kordish, then 2-4, faced a squad that boasts a .310 team batting average and produces almost eight runs per game. Even a curve ball that consistently finds the strike zone and a fast ball to back it up don't appear enough to stop a lineup like Harvard's under normal conditions.

And, true to form, it looked like the Crimson might touch up Kordish in the first inning, when an Elliott Rivera single, a Brad Bauer walk and an error to the Tiger shortstop loaded the bases with one out. But after taking both batters to three-and-one counts. Kordish got Vinnie Martelli to pop up and Don Allard to fly to right.

"We had them on the ropes," says Nahigian, adding quickly, "We can't expect them to always come through. That's baseball."

And both Martelli and Allard have come through more than their share of times. Martelli leads the team in hits; Allard boasts the, third best batting average.

Kordish struck out the side in the second, and the Crimson never posed another threat.

Things were back to normal in the nightcap. Martelli again stepped into the batter's box with one out and the bases full of teammates. The senior catcher singled in leadoff man Bruce Weller to give Harvard the lead it would never relinquish. The next inning it was Captain Bauer performing the honors, singling in Weller. Farrell followed with an RBI hit of its own and the Crimson lead, 3-0.

Rivera took his turn driving in Weller when he smashed a two-run homer in the sixth. Allard provided the final tally in the seventh when he doubled and came around on two wild pitches.

Charlie Marchese pitched a three-hitter for Harvard, chalking up its second victory. The sophomore hurler now boasts a 2.50 ERA.

Nahigian wants to see more than that, "We've just got to keep things going, that's all," he says. It shouldn't hurt to be back home.

Says Farrell, "It's going to be nice not having to take the bus."