The College World Series is about to become a bit tougher to win.

The NCAA is expected to announce next week a change in the format of the Division I baseball championship, starting next season, from a one-game final to a best-of-3 series.

“Potentially, it’s going to increase attendance, revenue and exposure,” said Dennis Poppe, the NCAA’s senior director for football and baseball. “It’s a good move for baseball.”

The idea of creating a series within the College World Series has been discussed by coaches for a few years, and the proposal received overwhelming support at the American Baseball Coaches Association convention in January. The NCAA Championships-Competition Cabinet approved it in February, and sent it to the Management Council for final approval.

“Something could fall through at the last minute, but I just can’t see that happening,” said Poppe, who was in Omaha, Neb., the site of the CWS since 1950, on Monday for the College World Series Leadoff Luncheon.

“I think that’s an outstanding situation, and every coach would be in favor of it because you feel like if you can’t beat somebody two out of three, then they’re better than you,” Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri said. “And they deserve the national championship then.”

The CWS featured an eight-team, double-elimination format until the NCAA altered that in 1988 to get the championship game on a set date for national TV coverage.

CBS has broadcast two games, including the championship, since 1988. But the network’s contract with the NCAA expires at the end of this year, and ESPN will televise the entire tournament exclusively beginning next year.

With the proposed format change, the opening game of the best-of-3 series would be played on a Saturday. The second game would be Sunday with a third game Monday.

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Bronze Beaver: Superstitions still exist in baseball.

Midway through last season, Oregon State shortstop Will Hudson was given a mounted beaver skull. He named it Balki and brought it into the Beavers’ dugout for luck during a three-game series at Stanford.

Oregon State was swept, and Hudson decided he needed to find another good-luck charm.

“Balki didn’t cut it,” said the junior from Fountain Valley, Calif. “I figured we had to get a bigger statue. I was thinking about getting a stuffed beaver or something and putting it on the top step of our dugout near the on-deck circle.”

Last week, Hudson was told by a member of the school’s athletic department that there was something he could use.

When Jerry Pettibone was football coach from 1991-96, he had a bronze beaver statue mounted at the players’ entrance to the football field. It was removed when Pettibone resigned and remained in storage until recently.

Hudson got a hold of The Bronze Beaver, which stands about 21¼2 feet, and placed it on the center of the dugout roof before a 13-9 loss to Arizona on March 28. The following day, Hudson and pitcher Joshua Garcia moved it to the end of the dugout, right over the bat rack.

That night, Tom Creighton hit a ninth-inning homer to give Oregon State a 2-1 win over Arizona. Four Beavers pitchers combined on a three-hitter to beat the Wildcats 5-0 the following day. Oregon State also routed Portland 11-1 on Tuesday.

“We found the perfect spot for it,” Hudson said. “He’s here for good.”