It seems nothing short of sacrilege to talk about to talk about a second straight Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League EIBI title.

With the Harvard baseball team still mourning the loss to graduation of its top four latters and half its starting pitching staff, nobody's another 27-8-1 record But don't 1984 a rebuilding year.

"I hate that word," says Coach Alex Nahigran challenging year. They have to accept challenge.

The challenge begins on the mound, where semors earned more than half of the team's wills last season. Gone are starters Bill Larson and Bill Doyle (4-4) and rehever Greg Brown (2-0.33 strikeouts in 31 innings)

The returning starters juniors Charlie Marche1se and left Musselman, will lead an inexperienced staff A lot depends on how well freshman pitchers make the transition form high school to college ball, where the latters are betters the road trips are farther and the season in longer.

The Crimson's offense is also making a big transition from power hitting to line drives Harvard 26 of 42 homers and 430 of 235 RBIs to graduation.

Catcher Vinnie Martelli took his 426 bating average and his Harvard career RBI record to the Cleveland Indians, who drafted bum the 15th round Right fielder Don Allard walked out of Commencement with the school's career home run mark.

First baseman Ed Farrell graduated after pounding a team leading eight round trips last year. And Captain Brad Bauer retired after hitting 359 in his final campaign.

What left are some good averages and average power. "We're going to have to play a little different style," says Captain Bruce Weller. "We can't wait for a home run. We just won't be able to win games by hitting the ball out of the park."

"I think we're going to be the kind of team that scratches for its runs," says Nahigian, a 24-year veteran who has always preferred the tuckel-and-dime and dime attack. Even last year, with an incredibly powerful team. Nahigian played for one run at a time. Elliott Rivera, whose 300 1983 average is tops among returning regulars, sacrificed 19 times, more than two out of every three times he came to bat with a runner on and nobody out.

You can count on even more sacrifices this year, as well as alert baserunning and solid fundamental play. "We're not going to beat ourselves," says Nahigian. This year's squad has spent a lot of time working on the basics.

Part of the reason for this is inexperience. Weller and second baseman Gaylord Lyman are the only seniors on the roster, while half a dozen freshmen could make the team Like his predecessor. Weller doesn't do a lot of talking "If some of the players have problems. I'd hope they'd come to me," he says.

Lyman's ready to be the old man of the infield "I'm going to have to be a leader whether I want to or not, he says "Freshmen are going to be a big part of the program."

Balancing the freshmen will be the sizable junior class Nahigian may put five or six juniors into the order. With only two seniors in the line-up, the underclassmen could be excused for looking ahead to 1985. They aren't.

"Some people think this is a rebuilding year," says junior outfielder Scott Vierra "I don't think so A lot of guys have something to prove."

What will they prove Nahigian says he'll know after the team's spring break trip to Florida "The trip will tell us a lot of things," Nahigian says.