By
Brian Penso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Torres riding an 8-game hitting streak
While last year's UA baseball team seemed to be snakebit by either injuries or poor pitching, something appears different about the 2001 Wildcats.
For one thing, the team's offense seems to be coming together at the perfect time.
In 2001, the Arizona offensive attack has been led by senior third baseman Erik Torres, first baseman Ernie Durazo and junior right fielder Shelley Duncan, who bat second, third and fourth, respectively, in the lineup.
"What's nice about our lineup is that we have good enough hitters where you can't really pitch around the middle of our lineup," UA pitching coach Bill Kinneberg said. "If you pitch around Erik, then you have to face Ernie. If you pitch around him, you have to face Shelley, and so on. We are in a real nice situation right now."
The Arizona baseball team was honored recently when Durazo was named the Pacific 10 Conference's Player of the Week.
During the past week, Durazo accumulated 10 hits to go with a .667 batting average. He also drove in a team high nine runs as well as scoring seven times.
The native Tucsonan became the 34th player in Arizona history to be honored with such an award.
"Every time he comes up to bat, all of the players and coaches have a lot of confidence in him," Kinneberg said. "We know that when he is up, he will make something happen."
Durazo - who has hit safely in 30 of UA's 31 games this season - said the individual honor means less to him than any team award the Wildcats could win.
"I am just letting the game come to me this season," Durazo said. " I try to go out and get a hit every time I am up to bat, but streaks and awards are not important to me. I try to do whatever it takes to help the team win. If I go hitless in a game and we win, then it is a good day."
UA head coach Jerry Stitt said that Durazo is well deserving of this award and that it is a great tribute to him as well as the team.
Durazo has had great success bating third in the lineup, which has allowed Torres and Duncan to prosper as well.
Torres is currently riding an eight game hitting streak, which is the third longest of the season behind Durazo's 28 game streak and junior shortstop Brad Hassey's 10-game hitting streak.
During this streak, Torres has hit .457 and scored runs in six of the past eight games.
"He is swinging the bat really well right now," Stitt said. "He is in a good spot in front of Ernie (Durazo) because he has been getting a lot of good pitches to hit.
Torres is hitting .386 on the season, which is second on the team to Durazo's .388 average.
Torres' production at the plate has added a new dimension to the Wildcat lineup, which has helped each batter individually.
The team's primary slugger, Duncan is also coming into his own at the right time for the Wildcats.
In UA's series versus the Bruins last weekend, Duncan - the son of St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan - hit .636, accounting for 42 percent of Arizona's 17 runs during the series with four RBI's and four runs scored.
Currently, Duncan leads the team with 12 home runs and is hitting .306 at the plate.
With ninth-ranked Southern California coming to Tucson for a three-game weekend series, Duncan, Durazo and Torres will be looking to continue their offensive success against one of the nation's top programs.
It won't be easy - the Wildcats will face Pac-10 pitcher of the week, Trojan junior right hander Mark Prior, Friday.
