The No. 6 Arizona baseball team continues its "Harlem Globetrotters" week with three games against two non-conference teams this weekend.
Arizona (27-11, 10-2 Pacific 10 Conference) takes on UC-Irvine today at 2 p.m. and tomorrow at 10 a.m. in neutral-field games before playing the second half of a scheduled doubleheader against Sacramento State at 3 p.m. at Hornet Field in Sacramento, Calif.
Arizona head coach Andy Lopez compared his team to the Harlem Globetrotters because he thought it was going seemingly everywhere in the country this week, having already beaten New Mexico 14-3 Tuesday at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque.
The Wildcats have won 11 of their last 13 games entering these non-conference tests.
"We played Irvine in the regional last year, and they were a very quality team," said junior catcher Nick Hundley, who is hitting .366 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs. "Sacramento State, in their ballpark, will be a good test for us, too."
After losing twice and tying once against Irvine (18-16) Feb. 20-22, 2004, in Tucson, the Wildcats exacted revenge on the Anteaters by beating them 7-3 in the Notre Dame Regional, which Arizona won on their way to the College World Series.
Irvine has beaten up on Pac-10 foes this season, going 6-2 against the conference. The Anteaters swept three games from Washington at home, took two of three at California and split two games against Southern California.
Tonight they get a shot at undefeated junior John Meloan (7-0, 3.23 ERA), who takes the mound against Chris Nicoll (4-2, 2.13).
Nicholl threw 8 1/3 shutout innings and struck out eight Friday against UC Riverside, while Meloan allowed three runs, two earned, in six innings to get the win against No. 9 Oregon State.
After a rough outing, junior Kevin Guyette (6-3, 3.70) faces off against Irvine's Justin Cassell (4-2, 3.53)tomorrow.
Guyette allowed four runs, three earned, in 3 2/3 innings Saturday against the Beavers after throwing consecutive complete game victories.
Arizona should not expect to give up too many long balls against Irvine, as their 13 total home runs are only two more than junior first baseman Jordan Brown's 11.
Still, catcher Mark Wagner (.358, 24 RBIs) and infielder Jaime Martinez (.327, 24 RBIs) put up solid numbers at the plate for a club averaging just over five runs per contest.
Junior left fielder Trevor Crowe enters the series scorching hot for an Arizona squad that averages 8.7 runs per game.
Crowe has hit 16-for-29 (.552) since April 8 with three home runs, 12 RBIs and 11 runs scored, including one in each of the last seven games.
About an hour after finishing play with the Anteaters Saturday, the Wildcats will have to deal with Sacramento State (17-21-1).
Hundley said preparing for two teams in one week will not hurt the team.
"We prepare ourselves, and whatever they bring out, we're not worried about who we're playing," he said. "We're only worried about Arizona baseball."
Freshman David Coulon (2-1, 5.11) starts the second game of the Saturday doubleheader after a quality performance against Oregon State in which he allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings.
He faces a Hornet squad that has not fared as well as Irvine against the Pac-10, compiling a 3-6 record.
They took two out of three against Washington State and split two games with No. 24 Stanford, but got swept in a three-game set at Oregon State and lost one at California.
Like Irvine, they score about five runs per contest and do not have much power, with only 15 home runs on the season.
No players besides infielder Brett Flowers (.316, four home runs, 31 RBIs) and catcher Matt Wilson (.252, four home runs, 20 RBIs) have hit more than two home runs or driven in more than 15 runs.
Before getting back to conference play with a nationally televised series against No. 25 USC next weekend, the Wildcats have one goal in mind for their trip to Sacramento.
"It's a good non-conference week," Hundley said. "We've got to go out and play hard and hopefully get three wins. We've got to keep winning."