The Arizona State-UA saga continues this weekend at Packard Stadium in Tempe, and the last thing this rivalry could be called is friendly.

The stakes are high considering the Wildcats and the Sun Devils are tied with Stanford for fourth place in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division. Both have records of 3-6 in the conference, and the winner of this series would not only move up in Six-Pac ranking, but may move into the national rankings as well.

Tonight and tomorrow's games begin at 7, and Sunday's starts at 1 p.m.

"This is definitely going to be a big series. We don't like them enough as it is," senior second baseman John Powers said. "It's not going to take a lot to motivate us. We have to bounce back. Even if it wasn't ASU, it would be a big series."

The Wildcats (19-14 overall) start the second half of their season coming off a weekend sweep at the hands of California. The losses against the Golden Bears were generally attributed to poor hitting. The coaches are confident the team can recover from its recent troubles at the plate.

"We'll be motivated," Arizona head coach Jerry Kindall said. "There is no question that our guys will play hard."

The Sun Devils (16-10) will hope to take advantage of the slumping Wildcat hitting with their young and talented pitching staff. Freshman sensation Phil Lowery (5-1, 3.54 ERA) will start in today's game for ASU.

The ASU pitchers are coached by former Cy Young award winner Bob Welch. In 1976, Welch's Eastern Michigan team faced Arizona in the College World Series championship game. The Wildcats shelled Welch for seven runs and went on to win UA's first national championship in any sport.