Princeton third base coach Tom Crowley charged across the diamond to question the call--which killed any chance of a Tiger rally even though it was only the first out of the inning. Santilli ejected him. Bradley came out for a second conversation in as many days, but as he was walking back to the dugout, Santilli tossed Tiger first base coach Mark Gola.

Spring Showers

Keck's third at-bat in the second game, which had already been interrupted from the fifth inning after Princeton sophomore catcher Casey Hildreth gunned down Woodfork trying to steal second, was put on hold again in the bottom of the sixth for a 25-minute rain delay. Both teams rushed out to cover the infield with a tarp as the Crimson clung to a narrow 3-2 lead. Almost miraculously, the rain, which had been falling for several innings before the umpires stopped the game, disappeared completely and the battle for the Ancient Eight crown resumed.

That gave Princeton junior righthander Jason Quintana just enough rest. He turned in his longest performance of the season, 8.1 innings, and held Harvard scoreless until the bottom of the ninth.

Since the delay came during Harvard's half of the sixth, Crimson sophomore righthander John Birtwell, who shut out Princeton in seven innings on April 10, had to wait in the dugout for about an hour before returning to the mound for the top of the seventh. He had allowed two runs through six innings while striking out seven Tigers, but he did not have the same command after the delay.

Lennon replaced him with one out, two men on and the score deadlocked at three, but the Tigers rallied for two more before the inning was over.

"You never know how teams will come back from a rain delay," Walsh said. "Both teams are affected but the rain got to Birtwell before it could get to Quintana. In Game Two, we were getting ahead of their hitters but we made mistakes late in the count and it hurt us."