KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Trevor Crowe and Kevin Guyette (45) celebrate the Wildcats' 11-inning victory of Long Beach State to earn a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

It may seem appropriate that baseball takes center stage across America near the end of September and early October. But as major league baseball teams jockey for playoff spots and prepare for the postseason, the Arizona baseball team is doing its own bit of preparation, even though its season is still four months away.

The Wildcats start their three-week fall schedule tomorrow at Sancet Stadium as part of a schedule of 15 intrasquad games.

Starting Friday, Arizona will practice Monday through Saturday with weekday start times at 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays at noon.

The Wildcats will practice on this Friday, Monday, Oct. 11 and 18 and scrimmage every other day.

All workouts will be open to the public.

The Wildcats' fall roster has a good balance of returning players and incoming freshmen for their fall season, and this should make for some good competition, head coach Andy Lopez said.

Arizona returns nearly all of its position players and two pitchers of its three-man rotation for a year ago.

Juniors John Meloan and Kevin Guyette and sophomore Mark Melancon will be joined by a crop of new pitchers, including newcomers Matt Baugh, Eric Berger, David Coulon and Mike Koons.

All four will try to fill the void left by the departure of Friday starter Koley Kolberg, who was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks over the summer.

In all, Arizona added 23 new players to the fall roster and gained depth to an already talented team.

Lopez said the team is looking for two infield spots to be filled at both second and third base, with a possible move by junior Brad Boyer back to the infield and newcomer Bryan Kervin as candidates.

Any newcomer can work his way into the Wildcats' lineup with a solid fall workout, said Lopez.

Sophomore pitcher Brad Mills was a walk-on last fall and earned a spot on the team through his fall performance and eventually pitched in the postseason for Arizona.

Last June, the Wildcats reached the College World Series for the first time since 1986. After the fifth-place finish in Omaha, Neb., the team remains hungry for a return trip.

Lopez said the experience gained in their postseason push a year ago will be invaluable to this year's squad.

"It's much easier to motivate them," he said. "They experienced it firsthand. They're a year older and a year more experienced."

Lopez cited the team's ability to go on the road to South Bend and Long Beach State and win as something that could help the Wildcats this season when they're faced with adversity.

Three key members of last season's run to Omaha will be sidelined for the entire fall schedule. Melancon is out with a sprained ankle, Guyette is battling a tender elbow and senior outfielder Jeff Van Houten is nursing a sore back.