For the Arizona baseball team, this weekend is the calm before the storm.
The Wildcats (23-19-1, 7-8 Pacific 10 Conference) travel to Westwood to play UCLA in the team's final nonconference series of the year with games on Friday at 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Field.
The UCLA series will be the last before Arizona embarks on a nine-game stretch, six of which are against nationally ranked teams, which will determine whether it makes the playoffs.
"We know every game is vital," said junior catcher Richard Mercado. "We're a good enough team that if we play the game right, we can compete with anyone in the nation."
The Wildcats are currently tied for fourth in the Pac-10 with nine league games remaining.
Head coach Andy Lopez said, earlier in the year, that his team would have to finish fourth or higher to make the postseason regionals.
To do this, the Wildcats are going to have to win six out of their last nine, meaning they'll have to win their final three series.
Although Arizona knows it has a tough road ahead, the team isn't looking past the Bruins.
"It's important for two reasons," assistant coach Jeff Casper said. "We need to improve on our overall record and build momentum going into our final three Pac-10 series."
This weekend's series against UCLA does not count in the Pac-10 standings but could add to the Wildcats' overall record and wins against quality competition.
"We need to get some wins under our belts," Mercado said. "We need a good record, so when the postseason comes around, we can get into regionals."
This will be the second series the Wildcats and Bruins have played this year, with UCLA winning two of three last month in Tucson in the teams' Pac-10 series.
Arizona plays every Pac-10 team in one series counting towards their conference record and can play a team in another series, which counts as nonconference.
The Wildcats return home the weekend of May 14-16 to play Pac-10 leader Stanford at Sancet Stadium.
Senior relief pitcher Scott Burns earned his first two career saves over the weekend, and earned Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors for his efforts.
Yesterday, Burns became the second Wildcat pitcher to earn the award after with his five innings of work against Cal last weekend.
"It's really great for Scott," said assistant coach Jeff Casper.
He added Burns had been through a lot with the UA program and everyone was happy for him.
The fifth-year senior did not allow a run and gave up only one hit in the Wildcats' two wins over the Bears.
He finished the week with four strikeouts and no walks in his pair of saves.
Burns came into the contest on Friday with the Wildcats leading 5-3 and worked the game's final 2 2/3 innings without allowing a hit.
With the bases loaded on Sunday, Burns got out of the two-out jam to preserve a 4-3 Wildcat lead, and pitched the last 2 1/3 innings for his second save in two tries.
Burns worked only 12 innings in his first three seasons combined with the Wildcats and has only 17 appearances this year.
Casper said it was nice to see a guy who had worked so hard and seen little playing time in the past stick with it and perform well when he was given the opportunity.
Junior Koley Kolberg was the other Arizona pitcher to win the award this season, for his work against Baylor and Arizona State in the last week of February.