First, for the good news, or the top of the seventh inning, which the Crimson batmen won. They pounded two Boston College pitchers for four hits and three runs, ended Eagles' starter George Ravinis' afternoon and hardly played like a 3-8 ballclub.

Now, for the bad news, or the rest of the game, which Boston College won, 5-0. So what's wrong with a split, anyway?

Nothing, save for the fact that the game in which the Eagles triumphed counts in the won-lost column, while the contest which they lost only served to ruin Ravinis' shutout, not to mention the six-inning no-hitter on which he was working.

For four of those innings, Harvard's Tim Clifford (now 4-3) had also pitched hitless baseball. The Eagles had tallied an unearned run in the second, but it was a fifth-inning home run which broke Clifford's no-hitter, and a two-run sixth (thanks to a pair of hits and three walks, two of which forced in runs) which broke the game open and sent the Crimson freshman packing.

By the time the top of the seventh rolled around, Harvard's offense suddenly found itself four runs to the rear, and still trying to figure out Ravinis.

When it rains, though, it pours, so that when Paul Halas led off the inning with a double, all signs pointed to the opening of the floodgates.

Leon Goetz lined to center, temporarily closing them, but then all hell broke loose. Mike Lynch doubled for one run, singles by Corby Saunders and Jim Peccerillo produced another, and a Peter Bannish walk produced a bases loaded situation and a shower for Ravinis.

Enter Ron Luongo, who immediately walked Barry Cronin to make it 4-3, but then bore down to strike out pinch hitter Tommy Joyce, and induce Dave Singleton to fly out.

In the final two frames, Luongo made like his predecessor, allowing neither hits nor runs. The Eagles, meanwhile, scored once more--via two singles sandwiched around a stolen base--off Petkunas in the seventh, to make the final 5-3.

Thus, entering today's Soldiers Field encounter with a good Brandeis team, the batmen's record stands at 3-9. Unless, that is, you include the 11-2 record in Florida. But if you do that, you might as well count yesterday's contest as a doubleheader split, because at this point, the Crimson is in no position to be choosy.