CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona sophomore infielder John Hardy beats the tag in last Monday's home matchup with Oklahoma State. Hardy and the Wildcats welcome the Aggies of Texas A&M to Sancet Field today for the start of a three-game weekend set. UA is currently riding a three-game win streak and has a record of 9-4 on the season.

Everything seemingly came together for the Arizona baseball team, all in the matter of one weekend.

The Wildcats (9-4) roll into today's series opener against Texas A&M after winning three straight last weekend in their most impressive stretch of the season behind solid offensive performances.

First baseman Pat Reilly hit safely in all four games last weekend to extend his hitting streak, dating back to last year, to 18 games.

Reilly carried over the streak from last season when he had had a hit in each of the last six games of the 2002 season. The sophomore entered the Feb. 15 game as a defensive replacement against UC Irvine and singled in his only at-bat.

"I really don't care about the streak. It's kind of funny because it's not that big of a deal to me. I want to win," Reilly said.

Center fielder Brian Anderson hit two home runs in the Feb. 21 loss to Minnesota and is currently batting .364 with a .665 slugging percentage, a sharp contrast to his injury-riddled sophomore season.

Last year, Anderson missed several weeks of action with a sprained knee and hit only .270 in 40 games. During this year's off-season, Anderson underwent shoulder and wrist surgery that forced him to start the first five games of the season as the designated hitter. Yet he returned to the outfield against Baylor on Feb. 9.

"Designated hitting is harder because you have to go back to the dugout and think about your at-bat instead of going out into the field and making a good play," Anderson said.

No. 16 Texas A&M (9-2) swept Arizona last year in College Station with a definitive home-field advantage. The Aggie fans are notorious for showing up to games three hours in advance to constantly berate the opponent throughout the day. During last year's series against Arizona, A&M fans compared pitcher Wes Zlotoff's appearance to that of pop star Justin Timberlake. They went on to rag pitcher Matt Wersel, saying he "was wersel than Timberlake."

But Wildcat players say the cheering was taken in stride.

"They cheered us on after the series, and seeing them care about their team was awesome," Reilly said.

Junior Sean Rierson (2-0, 6.14 ERA) will make his first Friday start today. The pitcher will be featured in next week's edition of Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" for his complete game, two-hit shutout against California Irvine on Feb. 15. Junior Joe Little (3-2, 4.32) will start on Saturday and freshman Kevin Guyette (0-0, 0.00) will make his first start of the season on Sunday.

Regular series finale pitcher, Richie Gardner (3-0, 2.86), will miss his scheduled start because of a stress fracture in his right foot. The junior underwent X-rays and may have suffered the injury two weeks ago but continued to play.

Today's game starts at 3 p.m. at Sancet Field while games on Saturday and Sunday begin at 1 p.m.