TUFTS IS FINAL TEST BEFORE YALE SERIES

The last test for the University baseball team before it goes into its annual series with Yale next week will come this afternoon when the Crimson nine journeys to Medford to oppose Tufts College. Tufts enters the Oval with a team which should effectively try the University power, having won eleven out of its 18 starts with victories for most of its important conflicts.

The line-up which Coach Mahan will send on the field today is indicative of much more than the probable, result of the game with Tufts. He has announced that Herrmann will be on the mound, with Puffer, who distinguished himself in the Yale Second team game, in reserve, and DeRham once more behind the bat. This should indicate that Spalding will see the first service when the Blue series opens in New Haven with Herrmann to start the second game on Soldiers Field.

Toulmin Out For Year

This order of appearance is highly probable especially after the most recent of the disasters which have beset Captain Hammond's team in the loss of Toulmin for the remainder of the year. Toulmin threw out his arm in practice, straining a tendon, and it is practically certain that the injured member will keep him on the bench for the rest of his last college season. The loss of a pitcher who has proved so effective during three years of University competition is an exceedingly serious handicap to a pitching staff which has shown itself to be the weakest division of the squad. It will leave Spalding, Herrmann, and Puffer to shoulder the responsibility of staving off a repetition of the two-game win for the Blue last year.

Spalding To Start Against Yale

The fact that Spalding will start the first Yale game also shows a radical change in the policy which the University has always followed in the crucial series. It is customary to send the weaker pitcher in when the first game is on the New Haven diamond, and yet Spalding is obviously Coach Mahan's best bet for a win. The probable reason for this change in the usual procedure is that Pond is slated to start the game for Yale instead of the first string pitcher, Holibird, and Coach Mahan will take advantage of the opportunity by concentrating his force for the initial contest.

There has been some doubt since the Springfield game whether or not Captain Hammond would be able to play today on account of a slight injury, to his leg. He was present at practice yesterday, however, and it is expected that he will continue to lead the team from second base. In case it is thought best to keep him out, Roland will take the position. The only other change from the line-up which started against Springfield will be the substitution of Ellison for Rogers in right field.

Today's game with Tufts will break the tie which exists in the games played between the two Universities since the war, each team having won two starts. Coach Nash of the Tufts outfit will send in Shuman for the mound, who is presumably his most powerful pitcher.