The freshman baseball team opened its 1976 campaign inauspiciously on Saturday at Soldiers Field, losing to a blundering Exeter Academy squad, 13-11. The Crimson committed three critical errors, while Exeter spread out its eight errors as harmlessly as a team can spread eight miscues.

Exeter jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on four walks, an error, and a single. Harvard scraped together four runs in the second, aided by two walks, an error, and a wild pitch.

Brian Buckley triggered an Exeter surge in the third with a triple and the Red grabbed the lead, 5-4. The Crimson knotted the score in the fifth when George Hughes walked, moved to second on a walk to Charly Caro, and then scored on an error by the first baseman.

Exeter's batting eye showed marked improvement in the sixth and seventh innings as they pounded out eight hits to register eight runs and put the game away.

At Last

The Crimson awoke from its winter's sleep in the bottom of the seventh for five runs on five hits and the usual array of errors and wild pitches which made spectators an endangered species by the end of the afternoon. Harvard did not come alive soon enough, however, as the rally fell one run short. Exeter added a meaningless run in the eight to close out the scoring.

The freshmen will try to get untracked on Thursday afternoon against Quincy Junior College.