Baseball earns 1st top 25 spot since 1993, hosts Radford

Brian D. Rothschild Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona catcher Greg Clark chases down a foul ball during Sunday's game against top-ranked UCLA. The Wildcats earned their first spot in the top 25 since 1993 after beating UCLA twice. The Radford Highlanders will be at Sancet Field today. Game time is set for 2:30.

The Radford Highlanders (6-7) will be in Tucson today to play the Wildcats (19-10, 5-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) at Sancet Field. Game time is set for 2:30.

Arizona, which swept its conference series against California and then took two of three games at home against No. 1 UCLA last weekend, was ranked 21st in this week's Baseball America poll. This marks the first time that the Wildcats have been ranked since 1993, when they finished the season ranked ninth in the country.

Arizona should hope that the style of play they showed over the weekend will carry over for the two-game set.

"I think we are playing pretty well right now," UA head coach Jerry Stitt. "We are playing with some cofidence and we feel pretty good about it."

Despite the fact that a big series against Southern Cal is quickly approaching this weekend, Stitt said he hopes that the team will maintain their focus and concentrate on the two game set against the Highlanders.

"I think one of the things that they have learned this year is that they need to come to play every day, and to focus and work to get better every day," Stitt said. "We would think that they would not be overlooking anybody and just coming in to play."

The Wildcats' success has definitely been a team effort.

Junior center fielder Diego Rico has been the spark plug for Arizona's offense. He currently leads the team in batting average at .429, and also in hits, triples and walks.

However, his 21-game hitting streak came to an abrupt end with an 0-for-4 Sunday.

Junior right fielder Colin Porter has been a pleasant surprise of power at the plate. He hit home runs in two games this weekend. His two-run shot to straight-away centerfield on Friday gave the Wildcats a 3-2 lead, and and proved to be the winner in the 4-2 final. Porter is hitting .367 with five home runs and 23 RBI.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Rob Shabansky proved in the early season that he deserves to be mentioned as one of the top pitchers in the Six-Pac. He sports a 6-1 record and an ERA of 2.77. Shabansky curently paces all Wildcat pitchers in ERA, wins, opponents' batting average (.210), hits allowed per nine innings (6.69) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.54). He is tied for first in the Six-Pac in wins and fifth in hits per nine innings.

Unlike years past when errors have plagued them, the Wildcats have also received excellent glove work in the field. Junior Jake Thrower has been solid at shortstop all season, coming up with big plays in critical situations.

The success so far, however, has not taken Arizona by surprise.

"They know that they have the chance to be pretty good," Stitt said. "They are focused and playing the game well."

Junior right-hander David Quick (4-0) get the start in today's game. Freshman left-hander Tony Milo (1-0) will get the call for Wednesday.