On a sunny and windy day at Sancet Field yesterday, the Wildcats won the last of a three-game series with Minnesota, 4-2.

The game was a must-win for the Wildcats who start Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division play next weekend against Southern Cal. The series was a reunion between Arizona head coach Jerry Kindall and the team he played for in college. UM inducted him into its hall of fame in November.

"I expected a tough series. I expected to win more than one game, but now I'm grateful for the one victory," Kindall said. "The guys played very hard today."

Yesterday's game, in front of 975 fans, was marked by solid pitching and good defense from the Wildcats (13-8). Starting pitcher Rob Shabansky (2-0) pitched 62/3 innings allowing seven hits and two walks, with three strikeouts.

The Golden Gophers (2-4) were held scoreless until the eighth inning when they scored their only two runs.

"I felt good, and I was able to throw strikes and really do well," Shabansky said. "We did a great job defensively. I threw a lot of ground balls, and they made all the plays for me, so I can't ask for anything more."

In Saturday's loss, the Wildcats' playing woes resurfaced. The team had seemingly recovered from pitching and fielding troubles which began in the series against Wyoming. The spark in the game came from second baseman John Powers, who went 4-5 with three RBI in a disappointing 7-5 loss.

"We consider ourselves to be one of the top teams in the country, and these guys came out and we were lackadaisical, and they took a couple games right out from under our feet," Powers said.

Friday's game was a 10-inning battle which had Arizona on the losing end. Jeff Gjerde, Colin Porter, and Jake Thrower all had home runs in the 12-11 loss.