The Crimson baseball team will probably have to overcome some strong Princeton pitching this afternoon to preserve its unbeaten Eastern Intercollegiate League record. The game against the Tigers starts at 3 p.m. on the Soldiers Field diamond.

So far this season the Princeton nine has been rather erratic in the hitting and fielding departments, but according to Crimson coach Norm Shepard, the Tigers have "about the strongest pitching in the league." But granting the Crimson a slight batting edge, the game has to be rated a toss-up.

The visitors have their two top pitchers, Herman Belz and captain Ed Seaman, ready to go to the hill today, but Belz is the likely starter. Last year he compiled an awesome 1.98 earned run average in league play, and Seaman's work was almost as outstanding.

Scheiner to Pitch for Crimson

Herb Scheiner is Shepard's choice to pitch for the Crimson. The righthander has turned in two complete games for the varsity this year, beating Richmond 5 to 1 and dropping a tight 2-0 decision to M.I.T. last Thursday.

Scheiner, who demonstrated fine control on both these outings, will hopefully reduce the ration of walks distributed lately by Crimson pitchers. Varsity opponents have drawn 16 free passes in the last two games.

The Crimson's batting performance, however, will probably prove the game's key factor. Ever since the regular season opened, local hitting has shown a pattern of disturbing irregularity: in every alternate game the Crimson hits column reaches double figures, but in between the varsity can never muster up more than five safeties per game.

"Scheduled for Batting Outburst"

After beating Brown, 4 to 3, on only four hits Wednesday, the team would seem scheduled for another outburst of batting strength. For this it relies on captain Bob Clearly, Mo Balboni, Frank Saia, and Kent Hathaway. But against pitchers like Belz or Seaman, the Crimson offense will undergo its acid test.

The Tiger team is dominated by returning lettermen, but has been handicapped by bad weather which has kept practice down to a minimum. Princeton has also lost its star hitter. First baseman Carl Belz (brother of the pitcher), who batted .337 on last year's team, injured his ankle about ten days ago and will be out of action this afternoon.

Mike Ippolito of football fame will take over first and batting clean-up for the Tigers, although under normal conditions he's a pitcher. Centerfielder Tom Morris, another carry-over from the gridiron ranks, is likewise one of the Tigers' leading hitters.

The J.V. team also plays today, travelling to Durham to take on the University of New Hampshire.