KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona pitcher Sean Rierson delivers a pitch earlier this season during intrasquad practice. The Wildcats travel to Long Beach this weekend for a three-game set against Long Beach State.

Arizona embarks on its second road trip of the season today, facing arguably one of the best opponents on its season schedule.

UA will open up a three-game set against Long Beach State (7-6), a team that already has three series sweeps under its belt against Southern California, California and Arkansas.

The Dirtbags dropped two out of three last weekend against No. 7 Louisiana State in Baton Rouge in temperatures that dipped below 35 degrees. LSU handed LBSU an 8-3 loss courtesy of six Tiger errors that led to six unearned runs on March 2.

Last year, the Dirtbags swept three games from the Wildcats in Tucson, but UA still leads the all-time series, 14-10. LBSU went onto make a NCAA Regional appearance, its tenth in eleven years.

At the close of last season, eight of 10 Beach players drafted in the MLB Draft signed with major league teams.

Arizona (17-4) enters the weekend coming off a two-game sweep against Cal State Dominguez Hills on March 3-4.

UA right fielder Clayton Bried left Saturday's game in the second inning when he strained a hamstring on a diving attempt. Bried missed the series finale but was able to practice all week.

"It's only a minor strain that took me out of a couple games, but I'll be sure to go this weekend," he said.

Bried isn't the only outfielder making a comeback this weekend. Centerfielder/closer Brian Anderson may see his first action today after missing four weeks due to a sprained knee he suffered Feb.4.

Right fielder Jeff Van Houten enters the weekend tied for second on the team with a .348 average. The freshman went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and a triple in last Sunday's 13-4 Wildcat win.

"I've just been seeing the ball well and not making mental mistakes at the plate," Van Houten said.

But the recent hot player has been freshman Pat Reilly, who came off the bench and doubled home his second run of the year on Sunday. He only has two hits on the year in four at-bats, but knows the bench role is pressure-filled.

"Pretty much every at-bat right now is a pressure situation for me," he said. "I just don't want to cheat myself more than anything; I go up (to the plate) ready to swing at strikes."

Today, Arizona pitcher Sean Rierson (4-1, 1.99 ERA) will face off against Long Beach State pitcher Abe Alverez (3-0, 1.82) in a staff ace pitching duel.

Today's game starts at 7:05 p.m. Saturday and Sunday's games begin at 2 p.m., all in Long Beach, Calif.