Arizona Wildcats vs. Washington State

(25-16 overall, 7-8 in Pac-10)(17-15, 1-8)

Where: Bailey Field in Pullman, Wash., on the campus of WSU
When: Tonight at 6:30, Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
What: Arizona travels to Pullman to begin its stretch of nine straight Pac-10 road games to finish out the conference season...The Wildcats lead the all-time series 6-2 over the Cougars...UA junior starting pitcher Josh Pearce returns to his home-state as he hails from Yakima, Wash....The Cougars are coming off of a 5-3 loss to Lewis and Clark State College while the Wildcats recently defeated Grand Canyon 10-3 and are looking to improve on their six game winning streak.

UA's Probable

Starting Lineup Troy Gingrich, CF Andy Juday, 2B Keoni DeRenne, SS Shelley Duncan, RF Ernie Durazo, 1B Erik Torres, 3B Kenny Huff, LF Rafell Jones or Ben Diggins, DH Dennis Anderson, C

UA ready for stretch run

By Dan Rosen
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 16, 1999

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letters@wildcat.arizona.edu

Eric M. Jukelevics
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Junior pitcher Josh Pearce winds up for a pitch during a game against Oregon State at Sancet Field last weekend. The Wildcats (25-16) travel up to Pullman, Wash., to take on the Washington State Cougars in a three game series.

With its nine remaining Pacific 10 Conference games on the road, the UA baseball team has its work cut out in order to make it to NCAA Regionals.

The Wildcats (25-16 overall, 7-8 Pac-10) begin their final run to the field of 64 tonight as they travel up to Pullman, Wash., to take on the Washington State Cougars (17-15, 1-8) in a three game series beginning this evening at 6:30.

"I would say if we go 5-4 in these games we are in for sure," UA head coach Jerry Stitt said. "Our goal, though, is to win every game. I think we are good enough to win two or three in each of these series'."

The Wildcats, coming off of a sweep of Oregon State last weekend and riding a six-game winning streak, knew the second half of the conference schedule would be a time for them to regroup after three straight series with nationally ranked teams such as Southern Cal, Stanford and Washington.

"We looked at it as a down-the-line thing. Once we got through the Stanfords and USCs, we had to see where we were as a team," junior outfielder Rafell Jones said. "We approached the rest of the games as being able to get back on track. We had to get back into the game of fundamentals. It was a chance for us to say, 'Hey, we still have time to cash in and finish the season better off than last year.'"

One thing the Wildcats do have to their advantage is the fact that junior starting pitcher Josh Pearce, who will start either tonight or tomorrow night, knows the Cougars very well since he pitched for Portland State last year in the Pac-10 North Division where WSU also played.

"As long as I have been familiar with them, they are great big farm kids. They always swing the bat well, so I have to be really aggressive and go after them," Pearce said.

Stitt echoed Pearce's comments, saying, "They have some guys who can really swing it. About six of their guys can pound you, but Josh should be up to the task since he is the aggressive type (of) pitcher."