UA baseball looks to bash Beavers

The ninth-ranked Wildcats (25-10 overall, 7-8 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) are only 2-6 away from home this year.

This will be Arizona's first-ever trip to Corvallis to take on the Beavers (12-7-1, 1-2 in the Pac-10 North). The series will not count against conference standings for either team.

It is the second series this season for the Wildcats against a Pac North team. Arizona swept Portland State in Tucson earlier this year.

"We haven't really played anyone that's played them, so we don't know what to expect," OSU head coach Pat Casey said.

The Beavers did play a three-game series at Southern Cal, winning once. Arizona, in comparison, was only 1-5 against the Trojans, including three losses in Tucson last weekend.

UA pitching coach Bill Kinneberg said OSU's strength is in its starting pitching.

"For us we just have to play like we know how to play baseball," Kinneberg said. "We need to get healthy, too."

The Wildcats were banged up in last weekend's series with the Trojans. Multiple Wildcat starters, including second baseman Erik Mattern, catcher Greg Clark, left fielder Jason Hendricks and third baseman Omar Moraga each missed at least one game in the series.

Another Wildcat, starting pitcher Darrell Hussman, was injured last weekend when he took a line drive off his ankle.

"It's healing," Kinneberg said of the bruise Hussman suffered. "But he's still not 100 percent yet. Hopefully he can go on Sunday."

Casey said he is concerned about his team's health as well.

"We're struggling a bit right now," he said. "We have some key people out and we're trying to find people to replace them. So far we haven't."

OSU's opening day pitcher, Mark Newell, may be out for the season and won't pitch this weekend. Also likely to miss this weekend's series is Beaver center fielder Jason Sternberg.

The Beavers will have senior pitcher Andrew Checketts (5-1, 3.32 ERA) to start tomorrow's game. Checketts has been named Pac North pitcher of the week in three out of the five weeks the award has been given.

Today's game pits UA southpaw Tony Milo (7-1, 4.60) against OSU righty Chris Pine (2-2, 3.79), while Checketts faces Arizona's James Johnson (4-1, 5.09) tomorrow and, if he's healthy, Hussman (3-3, 8.19) will go up against Brody Percell (2-3, 4.50) on Sunday.

Arizona will then return home to face Arizona State in a three-game series next weekend.