1st-place Stanford in town to take on 2nd-place Arizona

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat UA junior first baseman Kenny Corley awaits a throw during the Wildcats' game against Grand Canyon on Tuesday. Arizona begins a three-game series versus the Stanford Cardinal tonight at 7 at Sancet Field.

Currently in second place and ranked 24th in the country, the Wildcats have a chance to gain ground on first place Stanford, which is ranked fourth, when the Cardinal comes to town for a three game series starting tonight at 7 at Sancet Field.

Stanford is 21-7, 8-1 in the Six-Pac and is coming off a three-game sweep of California. The Wildcats are 24-14 overall, 7-5 in the Six-Pac.

Despite Stanford's position in the standings, Arizona head coach Jerry Stitt said the team is not going to treat this series any differently.

"This is not bigger than any other series," he said.

"Every game in the Six-Pac is of equal importance."

Last season, Arizona managed only seven conference wins all season. With its 5-4 victory over the Sun Devils on Saturday, the Wildcats have already matched that number, with 18 conference games remaining. The turn-around has not come as a shock to the tea m, however.

"I'm not really surprised with what they've done," Stitt said. "We have good players and the pitching has improved. That was key.

"If the defense gets better like it was at the beginning of the year, they will continue to win games."

Although the Wildcats are coming off two tough series at Southern Cal and at home against Arizona State, which saw them go 2-4, the squad feels that they can continue the success that they had at the beginning of conference play.

"I think the guys think we are a quality team," Stitt said.

"We played pretty well against USC. There were some close games that we didn't win. They still feel good about themselves."

Stanford brings to Tucson a team batting average that is tied with UCLA for the conference high.

Sophomore third baseman Josh Hochgesang was named the conference player of the week last week after going 9-for-12 (.750) against Cal, with five RBI and three doubles.

Stanford's steady performer all season has been sophomore Jody Gerut, who was player of the week back on March 4.

Gerut is third in the conference with a .426 batting average, fourth in RBI with 42 and fifth in doubles with 12.

Arizona will counter with junior first baseman Kenny Corley. Corley's lead-off triple in the 10th inning led to the eventual winning run in Arizona's 4-3 victory over Grand Canyon on Tuesday. Corley finished the game 2-for-4 with a double as well.

He leads the team with 38 RBI and nine home runs. Corley had an 11-game hitting streak earlier this season; he's the third UA player to have a hitting streak of at least 10 games.

Diego Rico's streak lasted 21 games and Colin Porter had a 15-game streak which ended on February 21.

Sophomore right-hander Darrell Hussman (3-3) gets the start tonight for the Wildcats.

Sophomore left-hander James Johnson (2-4) is the predicted starter for Friday's contest and sophomore Rob Shabansky should get the call for the Saturday's 1 p.m. game.