ERIC M. JUKELEVICS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman Arizona first baseman Will Thompson fields a pickoff throw last week against San Diego State at Sancet field. Thompson and the Wildcats face Texas A&M today in College Station, Texas.

For two schools that have 1,017 miles between them, there seems to be a lot of history linking Arizona to Texas A&M.

The Wildcats (No. 20) and the Aggies open a three-game series in College Station, Texas today.

Aggie head coach Mark Johnson has compiled a 724-341-2 record in 17 years at the helm. Under his guidance, A&M has taken two trips to the College World Series, with the last appearance in 1999.

However, the Lone Star State is not the only place where he has ties. Johnson was an assistant coach for Jerry Kindall from 1972-76. UA won its first championship in his last year in Tucson before he moved to become an assistant coach at Mississippi State.

Johnson said he will always remember his days in the Old Pueblo.

"It was very hard to leave, because we loved the people," he said. "It was a great opportunity for me, and I will always cherish my time with Arizona."

Johnson moved on to A&M as an assistant after leaving MSU in 1983. One year later, he inherited the job when former Aggie head coach Tom Chandler retired. But Johnson never forgot Kindall.

"Jerry and I are close friends, so we always make sure our schools play each other," he said. "It's a good series and we like to keep it going."

A&M (3-1) plays host to Arizona (11-1) coming off of a 11-3 win against Southwest Texas State in the home opener. The 2-1 loss on Feb.10 to University of Houston is their lone loss on the season.

UA comes into today with a six-game winning streak, helped by the hot bats of sophomores - designated hitter Rick Mercado and second baseman Moises Duran.

Mercado is currently riding a nine-game hit streak while Duran went 3-for-4 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Wednesday.

A&M first baseman Travis Wong leads the Aggies in hitting with a .571 average and a .929 slugging percentage in 14 at-bats.

"He had a great weekend but we've only played four games this year," Johnson said.

A&M has been notorious for their large fan base for games at C.E. "Pat" Olson Field. The Aggies average more than 4,000 fans a game and the atmosphere has been likened to that of venues in the South East Conference baseball games.

"We've been in the top five in the nation for attendance," Johnson said. "We certainly have an outstanding, electrifying group that has a raging but clean and humorous time."

The Wildcats said they look forward to playing on the biggest stage at this point in their year.

"I've heard a lot of great things about (Olson Field). They have the best fans that heckle you so it'll be exciting," Duran said.

Freshman first baseman Will Thompson agreed.

"I heard it's an awesome environment to play college baseball in since they have great fan support. This is one of the reasons why you play the sport," he said.

Arizona pitching ace Sean Rierson (3-0) will start today at 3 p.m.

Sophomore pitcher Joe Little (2-0) will start tomorrow and sophomore Marc Kaiser (2-0) will close out the series on Sunday, with both games starting at 1 p.m.