By
Brian Penso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Arizona baseball team opens a three-game series with Pacific 10 Conference powerhouse USC tonight. Arizona has won three straight.
The Wildcats (19-7 overall, 2-1 Pac-10) are coming off a recent sweep of Southern Utah as well as taking two out of three from Pac-10 foe UCLA.
USC (16-11, 3-6), though, is not UCLA, as they come in with a No. 9 ranking and 12 national championships, which is twice as many as any other school.
The Trojans, however, come in struggling in conference play after losing two out of three from Washington last weekend.
USC owns an 87-66 advantage over UA in its 154-game history.
"Each series is real important for us," pitching coach Bill Kinneberg said. "It doesn't matter if we are playing USC or Washington State. Every team in our conference is good, and we have to have the same mindset for each team in order to have a competitive edge."
Arizona will have to be on top of its game this weekend as USC will start the Pac-10 pitcher of the week, right-hander Mark Prior (5-1, 1.60 ERA).
The Wildcats will counter with freshman pitcher Marc Kaiser(5-2, 5.05 ERA).
Kinneberg realizes USC has one of the deepest pitching staffs in the nation.
"Their three starters are as good as anyone in the country," Kinneberg said. "Mark Prior, Rik Currier and Anthony Reyes are all proven with (College) World Series experience, and we have to be prepared to face this type of pitching staff every weekend."
Even though UA is the clear-cut underdog based on national ranking and recognition, head coach Jerry Stitt looks at this weekend as just another stepping stone in the season.
"Each game we play we have to improve, and our players are doing that," Stitt said. "It does not matter who we play as long as we play all-around consistent baseball and we have been doing that lately. We just need to be consistent in order to be successful."
One area of concern earlier in the season was the team's defense, but coaches are pleased with the improvement that both the infielders and outfielders have made during recent weeks.
"We are getting better every weekend," Kinneberg said. "Everyone makes errors, but we have done well to control them. Our defense will definitely have to play well this weekend vs. USC."
The Wildcats realize that in order to make a playoff run this season, they have to be able to play with the best teams in the conference.
"We get up for every game we play, especially conference games," senior first baseman Ernie Durazo said. "This weekend is not going to be any different."
First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sancet Field.
