Baseball heads on crucial road trip
Next 3 conference series, including a set at Cal, could help determine Wildcats' postseason fate
By: Bobby Stover
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Sports
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With 12 games remaining, including a trio of Pacific 10 Conference series on tap, the Arizona baseball team is at the forefront of what is shaping up to be a crucial three-week stretch.
With the Wildcats (30-13, 7-8 Pac-10) sitting in fifth place in the conference, three games out of first place and a mere 0.039 overall percentage points above California (27-14, 7-8), Arizona heads into this weekend's series against the Golden Bears with a chance to make a strong start to its final push for a conference title and the potential of becoming a regional host.
The task will not be easy as the Wildcats will begin the stretch in Berkeley, Calif. this afternoon at 2:30, a place where the Golden Bears hold a 17-4-2 record.
"We don't play easy teams anymore," said shortstop Bryce Ortega. "These next three (conference) series are very crucial with Stanford, ASU and Cal all in the top of the Pac-10. It's going to be real tight in each game, pretty intense."
Trailing conference-leading ASU by three games, Arizona certainly has its work cut out for itself. While the Wildcats are dominating non-conference opponents this season with a 23-5 record, they have struggled thus far in Pac-10 play as they have lost four of five conference series including two to teams currently below them in the standings, USC and Washington.
Arizona's best luck against conference foes has come at home where the team holds a 4-2 record, which bodes well for later in the month when Stanford and ASU make the trip to Tucson.
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