Head coach Andy Lopez said the Arizona baseball team still has a lot of unanswered questions heading into its weekend home series against Sacramento State ÷ and the pre-conference schedule is the time to answer them.
"The more games you play at this time of the season, the better," Lopez said. "Hopefully, that's the goal: to get all of your questions answered before Pac-10 play."
Arizona (7-5-1) continues its non conference schedule tonight at 7 against Sacramento State (10-8) at Sancet Stadium. The teams play again tomorrow at 3 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
The Wildcats are coming off a 2-1 series win over Baylor last weekend.
Junior Koley Kolberg (1-1) will get the series-opening start for Arizona tonight. Kolberg is coming off a Pacific 10 Conference Pitcher of the Week award for his win over Baylor and a relief appearance against Arizona State.
Kolberg gave up one run to the Bears in seven innings of work and came into the ASU game with the bases loaded and one out, surrendering no runs.
"We've got a few (pitchers) we're happy with, but obviously there's always some room for improvement," Lopez said.
Sophomore Luis Cortez has also seen early-season success. Cortez (1-2) moved up a day from his Sunday slot to earn a start in tomorrow's game.
Cortez will replace sophomore Kevin Guyette, who has struggled in his first few starts.
The UA starter for Sunday's game is still undecided. Lopez said it could be Guyette, sophomore Pat Lawler or freshman Tyler Tiedeman.
Though the Wildcats don't have poor offensive numbers through the year's first 13 games, their production has been down from last year.
Arizona has scored 50 fewer runs in its first 13 games than last year's team had at the same point.
"There are a few guys in our lineup that are struggling a bit," Lopez said. "It's better it happen now than right in the middle of Pac-10 play."
The Wildcats' struggles at the plate have led to somewhat of a slump.
Arizona is 2-4-1 in its last seven games. The team's batting average has dropped 48 points in the rough spell, from .341 to .293.
This drop in offensive output has also decreased the Wildcats' runs per game average from nine to six.
Sacramento State enters the series coming off a 1-2 weekend at UC Riverside's RBI Tournament. The Hornets fell to UC Riverside and Washington and beat Oregon State.
The teams split last season's two meetings, with each club winning on the road. Both contests were high-scoring affairs, with the Hornets winning 12-11 in Tucson and the Wildcats getting revenge with a 21-13 win in Sacramento.