Unable to come up with the timely hit, the Harvard baseball team fell to Tufts yesterday, 3-2, in a Greater Boston League (GBL) contest at Soldiers Field.

The Crimson dropped to 4-6 over-all (3-3 in the GBL), while the Jumbos raised their record to 6-5 overall.

In a nail-biting ninth inning, which the Crimson entered with a two-run deficit, Tufts pitcher Ed LaVallee opened by giving up two walks to freshman catcher Aron Allen and Co-Captain Frank Caprio.

Tufts Coach John Casey brought reliever Jeff Bloom in to face Harvard third baseman Tim Hurley, who laid down a bunt to try to move pinch runner Greg Agran and Caprio into scoring position. Bloom scooped up the ball and threw to third to force Agran on an extremely controversial call.

After a strikeout and a walk to Co-Captain Frank Morelli, the Crimson narrowed the Jumbos' 3-1 lead to one run when pinch-hitter Tom Konjoyan--battling back from a 1-2 count--drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to drive in Caprio.

But Bloom then got freshman right-fielder Ted Decareau to pop up to the shortstop in foul territory to end the game.

Stranded

Although the Crimson collected eight base hits, nine walks and a hit batsman during the game, it ended up stranding 16 runners on the basepaths. Harvard batsmen left the bases full in the second, sixth, and ninth frames.

"We hit the ball well, but it didn't drop for us today," Caprio said. "It was just a matter of not getting the timely hits. That one big hit we never got."

The Jumbos scored all of their runs in the second inning off Harvard starter Mike Dorrington, whose record dropped to 1-3. After two singles by first baseman Dan O'Neill and centerfielder Bill Canon, catcher Mike Kratochwill reached first on an unsuccessful fielder's choice to load the bases with no out. Matt Guanci drove in O'Neill with a ground-out for the first run, and Tufts Captain Roger Grenier followed with a two run single to centerfield, making the score 3-0.

In his six innings of work, the hard-throwing Dorrington surrendered only four hits--and only one after the second inning--but gave up eight walks, and pitched himself into seven full-count situations.

"I don't think I threw that well," the sophomore righthander said. "I just pitched from behind [in the count] all day."

The Bird Man Comes Through

Freshman Jon Biotti relieved Dorrington in the top of the seventh, and faced the minimum nine batters in his three innings of pitching. He struck out the side in the eight.

Meanwhile, four Tufts pitchers--Steve Amyouny (now 4-0), Kerry Callahan, LaVallee and Bloom--combined to limit Harvard to a mere two runs.