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Not just another game

The UA baseball team will become a part of history tonight.

The Wildcats (8-6) will square off against Texas A&M at Corpus Christi in what will be the team's first road game of a young season. The game will also mark the first-ever home game for the Islander program, which is in its first season of existence.

"We need to go on the road," UA head coach Jerry Stitt said. "It'll be nice to get out of town after playing all home games."

All 14 of Arizona's games have been played at Sancet Field.

The Islanders (3-2) have failed to show much in the program's inaugural first five games, sweeping Prairie View A&M in three games while dropping two games to St. Edward's College (Texas).

The single-game series against the Islanders seems to be a tune-up for a three-game weekend set against Texas A&M this weekend in College Station, Texas.

Today's game will mark the inaugural game at A&M-Corpus Christi's Cabaniss Field.

A mainstay in Corpus Christi since World War II, the field has been home to teams in the Texas-Louisiana league, most recently the Corpus Christi Barracudas.

"South Texas has a rich baseball heritage," Islander athletic director Dan Viola said. "It's a great opportunity to have a team with the notoriety of Arizona to come in and play the inaugural game."

According to Viola, the Wildcats have something the Islanders need desperately - tradition.

"We don't have any tradition," he said. "We're trying to build one as we go. That's our biggest problem right now."

How important would an Islander win be for the first-year program?

"It would be a great, great accomplishment to beat a team like the University of Arizona," Viola said. "We'd be very excited about it."

The Wildcats will likely start senior right-hander Rob Shabansky. The team's winningest pitcher in the 1990's, Shabansky missed most of the 1999 season following Tommy John surgery.

The team's regular three starting pitchers - Ben Diggins, Brian Pemble and Mike Crawford - will be saved for the weekend series against the Aggies.

The Wildcats are led by their hottest hitter, sophomore right fielder Shelley Duncan. In the last two games, Duncan has four home runs and nine RBI. In 70 games, Duncan has 27 homers, just nine shy of the UA career record of 36 set by Kenny Corley (1995-98).

Viola, though, admits that the Islanders will need more than talent alone to defeat the Wildcats today.

"We'll need luck," Viola said.