Offensively, Harvard should be able to remedy some of its offensive woes against a Fairfield defense that has given up 12, 15 and 19 goals in its three losses.

Baseball

The Harvard baseball team (0-3) opens its annual spring break trip tonight at the Homestead Challenge in Homestead, Fla. playing catch-up with the rest of the NCAA, which has had a two-month head start on New England's top program.

PAC-10 powerhouse UCLA showed Harvard's rustiness, sweeping the Crimson in a three-game set in Westwood, Calif. last weekend. During the series, the Bruins (14-10) managed seven home runs off Harvard pitching, including a ninth-inning game-winner by junior right fielder Rob Lyon off senior reliever Derek Lennon in the second game. UCLA also struck out 41 Harvard batters, led by a 16-strikeout performance from junior Rob Henkel, one of the top arms on the West Coast.

The Crimson's young infield may be topmost among Harvard Coach Joe Walsh's concerns, since it sports three first-year starters--catcher Brian Lentz, second baseman Faiz Shakir and third baseman Nick Carter--sandwiched around tri-captain Erik Binkowski at first and sophomore Mark Mager at short.

The infield made four errors at UCLA, including three by Carter, who was pencilled in as the starter at short last year before a weak-hitting spring cost him the job. Walsh, who loves to shake up his defenses, especially early in the season, will also try sophomore Josh San Salvador--a full-time DH last year--in the infield.

The depth of its pitching carried Harvard last year, and holdovers John Birtwell and Ben Crockett were the top two on that staff. Birtwell was banged up in his start at UCLA, surrendering five earned runs on six hits through 2.2 innings, but the junior has the nastiest stuff in the Ivy, including a two-seamer, four-seamer, change and breaking ball--which he throws from a variety of arm angles. Crockett, who shared Ivy Rookie of the Year honors with Princeton's Chris Young, consistently throws his fastball in the high 80's, and mixes in a curveball and a sidearm fastball that righthanders found virtually unhittable in 1999. Crockett allowed just two earned runs while striking outo five through six innings at UCLA.

The challenge for Walsh will be getting mileage out of his workhorses while breaking in his B-flight starters, who will probably include sophomore Justin Nyweide and junior Dan Saken, both of whom made several mid-week starts last year.