"That's a big concern for us," Walsh said. "Since the season has ended we've been practicing, but we're a team that's getting a little testy. We need to go out and play. But you can also look at it the other way and say it's good because we're rested."

Walsh has had his club working in simulated games over the last two weeks, fitting practices around the finals crunch.

"We've been taking it very seriously," Binkowski said. "Sometimes you can take practice games nonchalantly, but Coach Walsh had us playing in uniforms, he divided us into two teams and we made it a mini-series. It's helped us to stay sharp and we're chomping at the bit to play."

The Pepperdine pitching staff more than matches its counterparts in the batter's box, with a WCC-leading 3.76 ERA. Opponents bat just .256 against the Waves' staff.

A trio of workhorse starters, plus the best closer in college baseball, keys the men on the bump. Jay Adams (10-1, 2.58), Daniel Haren (9-3, 3.38) and Brad Tucker (8-2, 3.55) are the rotation's top three, and each has thrown over 100 innings.

"The scouting report said that all three of them were two-pitch pitchers," Binkowski said. "All of them hit the high 80s or low 90s on the gun, and [Adams and Haren] throw split-fingered fast-balls. [Tucker] has a good overhand curve."

Closer Jay Gehrke leads the nation in saves, with 18 in 29 appearances, and opponents bat just .182 against him. By contrast, the Crimson's regular first-game starter, Garett Vail, also leads the club with three saves.

Notes

The Crimson has faced four teams that qualified for the tournament: Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Florida International and Providence. In those games, Harvard is 2-4, with wins over the Sooners Mar. 26 in Homestead, Fla., and the Friars Apr. 15 at O'Donnell Field. The Buckeyes received a No. 1 seed and host a regional in Columbus, Ohio.

Providence has rapidly emerged as the sentimental favorite in the field, since the school will cancel its baseball program after this season to comply with Title IX regulations.