BASEBALL

For the past 11 seasons, Tony Lupien's baseball team has been a winner. The Old Pro has guided the Green to four Eastern League titles and a place in the first division of the EIBL race annually for more than a decade but to keep that streak alive this spring is going to take some tricks that even crafty Tony will be hard pressed to pull out of his bat bag.

It's not so much the 3-7 record during the southern trip that provides the measure of this team's ability. More accurate is the performance on the opening weekend of the EIBL season when Dartmouth visited Navy and then met Penn in a doubleheader at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, the synthetic surfaced home of the Phillies.

At Navy, the Green played 12 innings and came away with a 2-2 tie. In a way, it was a gift because Navy stranded 15 men on the bases and committed an error of omission that cost the Middies the game.

Still, nothing should be taken away from Mike Draznik, the rugged junior righthander from Plainfield, Ill., who has used his strength to become Dartmouth's top pitcher at this early date.

Draznik went the 12-inning distance at Navy. He allowed only six hits but gave up 13 bases on balls. Four came in succession in the first inning and provided Navy with one run. The other Navy score came with the help of an error two innings later.

Dartmouth, which had six hits also, managed to draw even with the help of sophomore Tom Snickenberger's triple and an infield out in the sixth.

Then came the type of heads-up play that has made Mark Ditmar the most talked about player on this team.

The sophomore second baseman was the only man on the field (except for the umpire on the bases) who saw a Navy baserunner miss third base en route home with the potential winning run in the bottom of the sixth.

Ditmar called for the ball, made his appeal at third base, and was rewarded with an emphatic "out" signal that erased the Navy score. By the time the game was called due to darkness six innings later, Ditmar had handled 13 chances in the field and demonstrated why he may be the classiest keystoner in the EIBL this spring.

The next day against Penn, the problem that seems likely to plague the Green all season - no overall hitting potential - took its toll.

Dartmouth bowed, 5-0 and 6-1. In 14 innings, the Green managed seven hits against a pair of Penn pitchers who shouldn't have been so fortunate. It marked the first time that Dartmouth has lost a doubleheader in league play since the 14-game format was established four years ago.

"We simply don't have the hitting or the consistent pitching to be a contender," said Lupien. "We've had our day at the top and it looks like it will be someone else's turn for awhile."

Among the pitchers, Draznik has looked good but has only begun to develop his control. Jim Metzler, the captain, who was 9-1 as a sophomore and junior, hasn't shown the sharpness that made him a consistent performer in 1972.

Sam Irving, a junior, has used his impressive curve ball to advantage in spots but hasn't gained the strength to become a fixture in the starting rotation. Dave Highmark, another junior who was plagued with control problems last year, hasn't solved that malady yet.

Around the infield, Ditmar and junior Bill Deevy provide Dartmouth with one of the best keystone combinations in the league. Ditmar hit .273 on the southern trip but his greatest contribution has been in the field where he has established himself as the man to watch.

Deevy, who didn't join the team until after the southern trip, has demonstrated his talents at shortstop and enabled Lupien to move Snickenberger to first base where he seems completely at home.

Todd Keiller, the leading hitter on the southern trip (.348) had half of Dartmouth's hits at Navy and has been steady at third base. Keiller is the only player batting over .300 after 13 games.

Bob Whelan is the only proven outfielder and will probably stay there after a nightmarish experience on the mound. He Was the starter in the second game at Penn and was clipped for four runs in the first inning. Irving came in to pitch five good innings of relief that day and Whelan returned to centerfield where he's flanked by Todd Tyler in left and a variety of people who have taken a crack at right field, depending on who the opposition is pitching. Tyler has moved into the lineup as a result of an apparent eye problem which contributed to Rick Klupchak's .097 batting average during the trip south. On that trip the Green defeated Richmond, North Carolina State, and Rutgers while dropping four games at Old Dominion, a pair to East Carolina, and singletons at NC State and Richmond.

At this juncture, the record is 3-9-1. There are 24 games remaining. If the Green can win half of them it can be viewed as a good "season, if not a winning one.

Coach Tony Lupien with two of his infielders: Mark Ditmar '75 (left) of Pitts field. Mass., who has established himself as one of the best second basemen in the Eastern League thisseason, and Tom Snickenberger '75 of Ithaca, N. Y., first baseman, who provides some ofthe Green hitting power.