Homers set to fly out of Sancet this weekend

Leigh-Anne Brown Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior first baseman Kenny Corley (33) nails a base hit during last weekend's game against New Mexico. Corley has sent four of the team's 20 home runs over the fence this season.

If so, fans could probably get a lot of souvenir home run balls this weekend.

The No. 13 Baylor Bears roll into town starting today at 3 p.m. to take on No. 24 Arizona, a team that has smashed 20 home runs so far, putting them on pace to hit 140 for the season.

"They'll be fired up," UA head coach Jerry Stitt said of his players.

This is Arizona's first series against a ranked opponent this season.

Baylor, the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 Conference title, returns seven of its nine starters from last season's 32-26 lineup.

The big hitters for the Bears last year were the three men in the outfield - Jon Topolski (.353 average, 11 homers, 46 RBI) in center, James Blair (.376-10-51) in left and Jeremy Dodson (.337-15-46) in right.

They come into Tucson to face an Arizona offense that has scored 115 runs in its first eight games.

Leading UA (8-0) at the plate are third baseman Omar Moraga (.571-1-11), left fielder Jason Hendricks (.529-4-8), right fielder Colin Porter (.469-2-14), shortstop Keoni DeRenne (.469-1-10), second baseman Erik Mattern (.447-1-14), catcher Greg Clark (.412-4-12) and first baseman Kenny Corley (.333-4-13).

In other words, the whole starting lineup is hitting right now.

Today's game pits two of the nation's top collegiate prospects against one another, as Wildcat junior Darrell Hussman (0-0, 5.40 ERA) is ranked 32nd by Baseball America and the Bears' Kip Wells (3-4, 6.35) is ranked 10th.

Despite facing Wells and the No. 13 team in the country, most of the Wildcats aren't intimidated.

"We're looking forward to it," Hendricks said.

Hendricks has hit home runs in four straight games, the longest streak by a Wildcat since George Arias' seven-game streak in 1993.

Hendricks was named player of the week for the Pacific 10 Conference's Southern Division, the first Wildcat to earn the award since Jake Thrower in 1995.

UA is enjoying its best start since the 1987 team that went 9-0. The Wildcats will try to match that number today and break it tomorrow at 3 p.m. The series concludes on Saturday at 1 p.m. Sunday's annual All-Pro Alumni Game also begins at 1.