After five weeks of indoor training in Lavietes Pavilion, the Harvard baseball team is coming down with a serious case of cabin fever.

The ball club that has breezed to a 48-12 Ivy League record, two league championships and four NCAA tournament wins in the last three seasons is simply dying to get outside.

The squad that has eliminated Stetson, Nicholls State and Tulane from post-season play and has finished the last two seasons ranked in the Top 30 of the Associated Press poll can't wait to face some live competition.

All things considered, that probably isn't the best news for the competition.

"Everybody expects this to be the year," said senior catcher Jason Keck. "With this staff, we feel like we can go deeper than we ever have before. Everybody's been working hard, everybody's itching to get out of the gym and get outside. Our goal is to get a berth in Omaha."

For the uninitiated, Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. is the site of the College World Series, and if Harvard wants to book its tickets early, it can start on the bump.

Son of a Pitch

The Crimson--which returns five starting position players and 11 pitchers--will make its living on the mound in 1999, boasting the best staff in the Ivy League by a comfortable margin.

"We've got a lot of guys that can be used in any situation," said Harvard Coach Joe Walsh. "We're a very interchangeable staff, and a ton of good, quality arms. Our depth is stronger than ever and we're anxious to crank the stuff out."

Though the rotation is flexible and many of Walsh's pitchers will do double duty in middle relief capacities, Walsh expects three starters to be rotation mainstays: senior Garett Vail, freshman Ben Crockett and sophomore John Birtwell.

Vail, a Second Team All-Ivy selection last year, posted a 5-3 record with a 2.95 ERA and pitched a team--best 58 innings, striking out 38 while walking 18. Vail also won his last three Ivy decisions, including the clincher in the Championship Series against Princeton.

Birtwell, who missed a good month of the season due to a chronic virus, was sparkling when he was on--which was most of the time--finishing 4-0 with a 2.29 ERA. He started the elimination game against Nicholls State, working 7.1 innings and scattering five hits, allowing just one earned run.

"It's nice knowing I'm in the rotation," Birtwell said. "It's not that solid as far as order goes, but we've got so many pitchers it's like we're using a six-man rotation or a seven-man rotation."

Crockett is the only unknown quantity in the pitching equation, but what he's displayed has his teammates encouraged.

"I'd say he throws his fastball 88, 89," Keck said. "And all of his pitches move. He's got good command."