Last conference home series looms large for Wildcats

Arizona Daily Wildcat Joshua McClain Freshman pitcher Ben Diggins (33) hits his fourth home run of the season during Tuesday's game against Grand Canyon at Frank Sancet Field. The Wildcats will take on Oregon State tonight at 7 and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Arizona (22-16 overall, 4-8 Pac-10) will take on the Oregon State Beavers (12-21, 1-5) beginning tonight at 7 at Frank Sancet Field and continuing tomorrow and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Last season the Wildcats traveled up north to Corvallis, Ore., to take on the Beavers and they left with a doughnut in the win column, losing by scores of 3-2, 9-1 and 4-3.

Even with the recent history, UA head coach Jerry Stitt still said the teams don't know much about each other.

"I don't know much about them at all. I know they don't have many guys back from last year's team, so there will be unfamiliarity on both sides," he said.

This series marks the close of the Wildcats' 10-game homestand where they have experienced the worst-case scenario, garnering only two victories in seven attempts.

"We are going to take in these games as ones we have to win," sophomore shortstop Keoni DeRenne said. "We are running out of conference games and we need to win. Anybody can beat anybody in this conference, but hopefully we can continue playing like we have been lately."

The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 30-5 in their past two games, beating Washington 17-4 last Sunday and Grand Canyon 13-1 Tuesday night.

The Wildcats' pitching will be anchored by freshman Ben Diggins (5-3, 5.59 ERA) tonight and junior Josh Pearce (4-4, 5.94 ERA) tomorrow. But the third starter is again a question mark as it has been all season long.

"We'll see," Stitt said in regards to Sunday's starter. "We have to see who we use in the first two games. Hopefully we can get nine innings and a victory out of both of them."

The UA lineup has received a jolt in power in the past three games as Diggins, who has struggled at the plate all season, is finally starting to hit for power, homering in each of the last three contests.

Diggins' resurgence has taken some of the pressure off freshman Shelley Duncan, who for the most part has been the Wildcats' only source of consistent power with a team-high 15 home runs.

"It is one huge stick in the lineup that we need really bad," Duncan said. "We have been wishing for him to start hitting and now he comes on and it brings a lot of confidence to the whole team, which is something we need now."