Husky Ballpark hosts final series before renovation

May 24, 2013, 12:00 AM

It’s been an up-and-down season for the Washington baseball team. After a poor start to the season, the Huskies rode a wave of momentum up the Pac-12 standings thanks to a fantastic final month. Everything comes to a close this weekend when the Huskies host No. 19 Arizona State in the final series of the year. The Sun Devils (34-18-1, 15-12 Pac-12) come into the series with an NCAA tournament at-large bid all but locked up, but they will still aim to enter the tournament hot. It will be the UW’s (22-31, 13-14) final series in the current version of Husky Ballpark, with the stadium set to undergo offseason renovations to improve the stands, field, and press box. The renovations begin shortly after this weekend’s games are played, with the stadium expected to be ready by the beginning of next season. Washington head coach Lindsay Meggs will go with the same Friday-Saturday starters as he has for much of the season. Jared Fisher will get the ball in the opener, followed by Austin Voth. Voth will be making the final start of a very successful junior season. The right-hander is 7-5 with a 2.53 ERA and enters the weekend second in the Pac-12 with 96 strikeouts. If he gets to 100, he will be just the fifth UW pitcher ever to accomplish that milestone and the first since Nick Haughian did so in 2008. For his last start of the season, Voth has a very specific goal in mind: Go the distance. “I haven’t thrown a nine-inning game before,” Voth said of his goal to pitch a complete game. “The way I’m going to be able to do that is keeping my pitch count down and pitching to contact.” The Huskies are coming off one of their best series of the year, a three-game sweep over rival Washington State. UW pitchers kept the WSU offense in check, allowing just six runs in three games, and the offense capitalized on eight Cougar errors and scraped out the runs to win all three games. “It was extra nice because the field we played at was not an offensive park at all,” said third baseman Andrew Ely, who was 5-for-11 with two doubles in the series. “We really had to pitch and defend at our top level, and I think we did that. We pitched great all weekend, and we got a couple key hits and the small ball game came up big for us.” Of course, the challenge from ASU will be significantly more than that from WSU. The Sun Devils are in fourth place in the Pac-12 and will almost definitely be making an NCAA tournament appearance in a few weeks. Arizona State brings a power-packed lineup to Seattle. The Sun Devils lead the conference in doubles, home runs, and RBIs and are second in batting and triples. Despite the tall task the Huskies have in front of them, they’re prepared to end the season on a high note. “A lot of it will come down to pitching,” senior outfielder Michael Camporeale said. “They are one of the top offensive teams in the Pac-12. They are going to swing it well. It’s going to come down to good pitching, good defense, and getting some timely hitting.” Because of television coverage, the start times for the weekend’s games are a little different. Friday’s opener still starts at 5 p.m., but Saturday’s game starts at 4 p.m., and the finale Sunday starts at noon. Reach reporter Daniel Rubens at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @drubens12

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