The Arizona baseball team will try to improve on its two-game win streak tonight when they face No. 18 Stanford in the first game of a three-game series at Sancet Field.

The series has playoff implication for both teams. The Wildcats (22-24 overall, 6-15 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) are in last place in the Six-Pac, while Stanford (23-17, 10-11) sits comfortably in third place behind USC and UCLA. The Wildcats need to finish out the last 10 games with at least eight wins in order to be considered for a NCAA regional playoff berth, while Stanford must just avoid a major upset like the one Arizona is looking to hand them.

The last time the teams met, on March 29, the Cardinal swept a three-game series. The only game that was even close was the second game in the series which the Cardinal won 7-6. That series was the beginning of the disastrous losing streak that ended last weekend at eight-straight losses.

It was a change in attitude that turned the Arizona team around.

"This weekend at UCLA was the loosest I've seen this team all year," pitcher Ben White said after UA took two of three from the Bruins. "We tried to change some things up. We started making fun of each other and absolutely having a great time."

In that series, the performances of pitcher Tyler Haddix and second baseman John Powers earned them nominations for Six-Pac pitcher and player of the week. Haddix pitched eight innings, allowing four runs on five hits with a team-high eight strikeouts, and Powers was 10-18 with a double and four RBI. Left fielder and occasional first baseman Jeff Gjerde drove in six runs in the series, increasing his team-leading total to 57.

The starting pitchers for Arizona will be Shawn Barrington (1-6, 6.75 ERA) tonight, Darrell Hussman (2-2, 4.44 ERA) tomorrow, and Tyler Haddix (4-4, 4.70 ERA) on Sunday. Tonight and tomorrow's games begin at 7 p.m., and Sunday's first pitch is set for 1 p.m.