The Arizona baseball team has had to deal with more than just baseball the last two weeks ÷ mainly the Apache influenza.

However, all players on the Wildcats' (3-3) roster made the trip to California to take on UC Irvine starting tonight.

Freshmen Nick Hundley, Derek Decater and John Maloan, who all live on the same floor of the Apache-Santa Cruz Residence Hall, became ill during last week's practice and missed the Baylor series.

Hundley was sent home from practice last week so he wouldn't put other players at risk of the virus, said fellow Apache-Santa Cruz resident Chris Frey.

"I never saw all those guys that week because I didn't want to get sick," Frey said.

Sophomores Mark Worrell and Jeff Van Houten plus assistant coach Mark Wasikowski also battled the flu all throughout this week's practices.

The flu bug has not been the only thing that has infected the team so far.

Sophomore Pat Reilly missed the Baylor series finale because of food poisoning. Roommate Sean Rierson attributes Reilly's sickness to the first baseman's dinner at Macaroni Grill the night before.

"I ate there before my first start of the season and I felt sick all throughout that game," Rierson said. "Pat ate there too and got sick so I'm never going to eat there again."

Maybe it will be good to get the team away from Tucson.

The freshmen will get their first taste of life on the road during the first away series of the season.

"I've never been to California before," said Frey, a Highland, Ill., native. "It'll be cool staying in a hotel and much different than the other baseball road trips in my career because this is the college level."

Rierson, who is in his third year on the team, said the freshmen may have something else to deal with besides traveling and playing baseball.

"I'm not going to say anything right now, but something always happens to just the freshmen," Rierson said.

While Rierson might be able to foresee some events for the freshmen, there is one thing the newbies need to be extra careful with.

The team's hats.

Before every road trip, UA packs everyone's game hat into one box to prevent damage to the bills. The team doesn't check the box but rather assigns a freshman to take care of the hatbox throughout the flight. Disaster would be imminent if the hatbox is damaged or misplaced.

Rierson had full responsibility of the hatbox during his first collegiate road trip two years ago and had several problems with it.

Waiting for the flight in the airport, Rierson left the hatbox in his seat while he went to the bathroom. When he returned, the box was gone and he had to search all throughout the airport while the team boarded the plane. He finally found it in time, and was one of the last passengers to board.

Before takeoff, Rierson stored the hatbox in the overhead bin directly above him. After the landing, Rierson opened the bin to find the box disappeared again and he had to wait until the team and everyone else disembarked. He finally found the box in the last overhead bin space at the end of the plane.

The Wildcats come into tonight's game with a two-game losing streak, both coming in extra innings. UA came back from a 9-4 deficit but lost Saturday's game against Baylor in the 10th inning. Arizona climbed out of an 8-0 hole but lost 11-9 in 11 innings on Sunday.

Frey said the Wildcats are going to concentrate on other things besides UCI.

"The coaches want us to play our own game and not do too much while not worrying about our opponent," he said.