Under the new rules, bats used by college players will be restricted in size and weight to a narrower and heavier model than now commonly used, and baseballs will not be able to come off a bat faster than 93 mph. In short, aluminum bats will be manufactured to perform more like wooden bats.
Aluminum bats were first produced in the early 1970s as a cheaper alternative to wood bats. Bat makers said the unbreakable aluminum would last longer than breakable wood.
In recent years, however, manufacturers have improved bat technology in a number of ways, and the price tag has risen along with their performance. Aluminum bats are now far lighter to swing than wood and the ball flies off faster. They also can cost upward of $200 each.
"They make bad swings into good swings, and they make good swings into great swings," said Brown's assistant baseball coach Brett Boretti of the aluminum bats now used in college baseball.
As a result, game scores have soared, say Brown coaches. While scores like 7-4 are common in the major leagues, the final score at last June's NCAA Division I baseball championship game was 21-17.
The scores will go down under the new NCAA rules, predicts Brown's head coach Marek Drabinski., who is in favor of the change. Most importantly, he added, the change is necessary for the safety of the pitchers.
"I think it's a great move," said Drabinski. "I don't think there is any question that a ball jumps off an aluminum bat faster than a wood bat ... just ask anyone who swings."
No Brown pitcher has been seriously injured by a speeding ball coming off a metal bat, said Drabinski, but he has seen some close calls: balls getting hit off pitchers' shins and arms. The danger has even increased for first basemen and third basemen.
Count Sunderdick '00 among those who are happy about the new regulations.
"Any pitcher would be in favor of the change," he said. "I think it was only a matter of time before someone was seriously hurt."
But until the new regulations take effect in his senior year, when Sunderdick stares down the barrel of the bat from the mound he cannot afford to think about line drives to his ankle or anywhere else.
"You can't think about that," he said. "You can't think about that."