"We're not thinking about clinching," Walsh said. "We got caught up in that last year, and it hurt us. From a coaching standpoint, you just keep playing hard and try to win every game."
Walsh will go with his top-flight rotation in these conference games, likely throwing Duffell, junior righthander Garett Vail (2-2, 3.00), junior righthander Donny Jamieson (1-1, 5.00) and either junior James Kalyvas (0-1, 5.11) or Lennon (2-1, 2.25).
Both Jamieson and Vail will look to bounce back from rough outings at Yale--Jamieson allowed four earned runs on eight hits in four innings, while Vail surrendered five earned in four and two-thirds--with challenging starts against the hot-hitting Bear lineup.
Paced by an underclassman doubleplay combo--freshman shortstop Dan Kantrovitz, who hit .333 in five games last week, including a pair of homers and six RBI, and sophomore second baseman Jeff Lawler, who drove in 11 during the same period--Brown will look to duplicate its 19-run performance Wednesday at Holy Cross.
"We haven't seen Brown yet this year," Walsh said. "But we know they're hanging up the numbers."
Harvard expects strong work at the plate from its senior stalwarts--shortstop David Forst, batting .386 with 21 RBI, centerfielder Brian Ralph, who returned from injury 12 games ago to hit .410 with three homers and a .692 slugging percentage and leftfielder Aaron Kessler, who carries a 17-game hitting streak into the weekend.
Notes
As of Tuesday's Beanpot semifinal win, Harvard boasted eight of eight position starters batting better than .300. Forst is followed by junior catcher Jason Keck at .362 and Carey at .355. The squad is hitting .332, a full 60 points better than its opponents.
Harvard's last two games--both error-free wins--were the first back-to-back errorless games the defense has played this season. Last year the Crimson posted the nation's sixth-best fielding percentage.
In last season's Brown series, the Crimson got four wins from its starting pitchers, including victories out of Duffell, Jamieson and Kalyvas. The trio has managed only three wins combined this season.