Al Switzer came off the bench yesterday afternoon at Soldiers Field to tack a highly dramatic finish onto what had been an exciting 13 inning pitchers duel with Tufts. Switzer hit a pinch double with two out and two on to give the Crimson a well earned 3 to 2 win over the Jumbos.
Switzer's storybook wallop took away some of the brilliance of the pitching battle waged by the Crimson's Pat Groper and Tuft's Dave Lincoln. The two had allowed only one run asperse in the first 12 frames with Groper pitching 11 consecutive scoreless innings after a shaky start. A pair of back to back extra base hits in the top of the thirteenth gave Tufts a 2 to 1 lead Russ Johnson leading off in the bottom of the frame, popped to first. Captain Charley Walsh started the Crimson rally, singing sharply to right center. Jack Donelan batting for Benny Akillian followed with a base hit to left. Norm Sadowsky hit a long fly for the second out. With one strike against him, and most of the few fans already leaving. Switzer sent a long drive to left field good for a standing up double and the ball game. The Jumbos jumped off to a first inning one run lead. Leadoff batter Bill Sidell drew the only walk that Groper gave and went to second on Ken Fettig's sacrifice. Sidell scored on Al Bennett's single through the middle. Lincoln held Stuffy McInnis team scoreless until the last of the seventh. Groper first up grounded out to short. Bob Smith blasted a long double to deep right center and scored. When with two out, Johnson singled to right. Tufts went ahead again in the top of the thirteenth. Bennett hit a line drive triple between the fielders in right center. Dick Thomann, next up smashed a double to almost the same spot. McInnis relieved Groper with lefty Rufe Webb, the eventual winning pitcher at this point. Billy Burns sacrificed Thomann to third. However, Walsh tagged Thomann out at the plate on the next play and then relayed a cutoff to second for the final out. On a play that went from Smith to Walsh to Young. Only a great catch by Smith in the tenth inning saved the Crimson from losing. Smith raced far to his right to pull in Fettig's line drive. Bennett then smashed a double that would have brought in the deciding run save for the spectacular catch.
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