By
Brian Penso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Arizona to start home season without Osburn
There will be one familiar face missing today when the UA baseball team opens their 2001 home season against Brigham Young at Sancet Field.
The Wildcats' three-game series will mark the first time that UA has played at Sancet Field without infielder Kelsey Osburn. Osburn died last summer after being struck in the head by a batted ball prior to a summer league baseball game after his sophomore year.
Osburn's jersey will become just the fourth number to be retired in Wildcat history, Saturday, when the team will honor the infielder's memory in a pregame ceremony.
"This will be a very special moment for our program as well as for the players Kelsey played with," Arizona head coach Jerry Stitt said.
Stitt said he is not worried about the ceremony being a possible distraction to his team's overall performance.
"I think having dedicated the season in honor of Kelsey will help the players stay focused," Stitt said.
Osburn, a player who was known for his hard work and dedication, is a constant reminder of what it takes to win at the college level.
"Hopefully the players will be reminded of how hard Kelsey played and how much he enjoyed every minute of the game," UA pitching coach Bill Kinneberg said.
Wildcat players said the ceremony will help the team stay focused on the task at hand.
"With the memory of Kelsey so fresh in our heads, this ceremony will definitely motivate us," Arizona freshman pitcher Nate Staggs said. "This ceremony will be a reminder of Kelsey's work ethic and hopefully we will follow it."
Arizona (3-1 overall) is looking to win its second consecutive series, but in order to defeat the Cougars, the Wildcats' young pitching staff will need to perform with consistency.
Stitt and Kinneberg will hand the ball to freshman pitcher Sean Rierson, who will be making his second start of the season.
In his first outing, Rierson (0-0, 2.08 ERA) pitched 4.1 innings and held Hawaii-Hilo to two earned runs.
"Each outing, we need our pitchers to perform well and keep improving," Kinneberg said. "Hopefully, the young pitchers can stay focused and learn something in every game."
BYU (0-0) will counter the young UA freshman with senior Nate Fernley, who finished last season with a 1-4 record and a 3.46 ERA.
Arizona will hope to erase last year's performance against the Cougars. The Wildcats were swept in their only two meetings against BYU at Sancet Field.
Arizona, though, leads the series with BYU 17-7.
"BYU plays a pressure style of offense," Kinneberg said. "They hit-and-run a lot, and for us to be successful, we need to hold runners on very closely in order to disrupt their offensive strategy. That will be the key for us defensively."
Stitt said the team will also need to refine their offensive lineup.
"We need to improve our hitting in certain situations in order to become more consistent offensively," Stitt said.
Kinneberg said that the team should fare better offensively at Sancet Field due to better weather conditions than they had in Hawaii last weekend.
"(Hawaii) Hilo is a tough place to hit due to the air and wind," Kinneberg said. "When you hit a solid ball, it just does not travel as far."
BYU will feature two sophomores, Matt Carson and Kainoa Obrey, who were both honored as freshmen All-Americans last season.
Staggs said that Arizona's fundamentals could sway the way the series plays out.
"If our pitching does good and we swing our bats, we will be just fine," Staggs said. "We're solid all the way around. All we have to do is throw strikes and hit the ball."
First pitch is scheduled at Sancet Field today at 3 p.m.
