Three innings passed without a run on either side. Then Coy, the first man up in the fourth, hit a bounder which the Harvard third baseman found too hot to handle, and Coy beat the ball to first base. The next man waited while O’Brien tried to tempt the runner to steal, and thus got his base on balls. His successor hit to third again, and while Manning hesitated and tried to touch Coy, likewise made first. Number four went out on a long fly to right field, but the speedy Coy got safely across the plate on the return throw, with score number one. McPherson now made a lucky single over shortstop’s head, which brought in a second run. Then O’Brien caught the Yale man playing off too far from second, and the next batsman struck out.
“That’s Owen.”—[Page 255].
“Bad!” said Duncan, sadly. His unhappiness was not relieved when the three Harvard men went out on a fly and two easy infield hits.
“They’re finding the ball, anyway,” remarked Sam, trying to be courageous; “the game’s young yet.”
“It’s nearly half grown,” rejoined Duncan, gloomily; “and you can see what kind of a beast it’s going to be. Two runs is an awful handicap.”
He was depressed still further in the fifth inning, when the first ball pitched yielded a hit that put a Yale man again on first. The Yale coachers took a risk and bade their man steal second. It was a poor risk, for Owen shot one of his perfect throws down ahead of the runner, and Williams, the Harvard shortstop, thumped him with the ball as he slid gallantly into his fate.
“What a daisy throw!” cried Sam, ecstatically.
“He can do those by the dozen,” remarked Duncan, airily. “He has a special wire to second base.”
Manning now captured a foul off third, and Latter took a long fly in left field. A Harvard man got as far as second base and was left there. The sixth inning profited neither side.