The weekend marked the return of the Washington State baseball team to Sancet Field after a 16-year absence. The Wildcats were not gracious hosts and swept the Cougars, in a three-game weekend series.

In a dramatic 12-6 win yesterday, the Wildcats (7-1) held off a late-inning charge by the Cougars. UA was leading 6-0 until the seventh- inning when the Cougars (5-5) began a six-run rally. The Wildcats responded in the eighth-inning with a six-run rally of their own sparked by the sacrifice bunt of Erik Mattern.

"The turning point in the eighth-inning was Erik Mattern's good bunt," head coach Jerry Kindall said. "He hustled down the line and drew a bad throw from the pitcher, turned the inning around all together. Now we have men on second and third with nobody out."

The go-ahead run was driven in by second baseman Tim King. The bases were then loaded for designated hitter Kenny Corley. Corley then proceeded to hit a grand slam home run - his third home run of the series.

"Home runs are exciting, but it just feels good to get a sweep," Corley said. "We've just got to keep playing like we're playing right now because everybody's got a good attitude and we expect to win and that's what we've got to do."

The series began with a win on Friday in the first extra-inning game of the season. The Wildcats came from behind in ten innings to beat the Cougars 11-10. The game was sparked by the home runs of Brian Becker, Kenny Corley and Russ Brown.

Saturday's 4-3 victory was made possible by the solid pitching of Jason Ford (1-0) and Ben White, and the potent hitting of Russ Brown and Brian Becker. Ford allowed one hit and two runs in five innings and White struck our four, allowing only one run. Becker hit his third home run of the season, and Brown had a two-run double in the fourth-inning.