Huskies welcome clean slate of conference play

Mar 15, 2013, 12:00 AM

Nonconference play has not been very kind to the Washington baseball team. Hurt by injuries and inconsistencies on the mound and at the plate, the Huskies have limped to a 4-11 start. And now they have to begin their conference schedule in a very difficult place to start turning things around. The Huskies finally begin Pac-12 play against No. 7 UCLA on Friday with the first part of a three-game series. Friday’s game begins at 6 p.m., followed by afternoon matchups Saturday and Sunday. The UW comes into the series on a serious slide, having dropped five of its past six games and eight of its past 10. The Huskies were swept last weekend on the road against then-No. 3 LSU. They were scheduled to host Portland on Tuesday, but that game was rained out. Head coach Lindsay Meggs and Portland manager Chris Sperry made the decision to postpone the game until Tuesday. For now, though, that’s one more missed tuneup before the Pac-12 schedule. “It’s just disappointing because we feel like we are close, and we want to get it right,” Meggs said. “Being out there and getting the chance to take more at-bats and throw more pitches would have been exactly what we need.” The bright side of a trip to Southern California is that rainouts should be significantly less of a threat. Meggs said he expects to start right-hander Nick Palewicz on Friday night and ace Austin Voth on Saturday. Palewicz is 2-3 with a 5.01 ERA this season, while Voth is 2-2 with a 4.69 ERA and 34 strikeouts, the second-most in the Pac-12. This is a change from the UW’s early-season series, when Voth was the team’s Friday starter. “We haven’t scored a lot of runs on Friday,” Meggs said. “By holding our better guy back on Saturday, we feel like it gives us a better chance to win on Saturday and possibly Sunday. If we don’t score on Friday, it doesn’t matter who we throw — we aren’t likely to win.” This weekend pits two teams heading in very different directions. While the Huskies have struggles, the Bruins (12-3) have been hot all season. They are coming off of a 5-4 comeback win over Cal State Northridge on Tuesday. The Bruins have been successful this season because of their pitching staff. They have a 2.38 team ERA through 15 games and have held opposing hitters to a .200 batting average. The UCLA offense has been much more pedestrian. As a team, the Bruins are batting .261. “We have to keep their leadoff guy off base,” Meggs said. “They are a different team when he is on base. We also have to do a better job of hitting with runners in scoring position. They don’t give you many opportunities because their strength is on the mound.” Meggs said his Huskies are eager to start trying to turn the tide. “We’re all frustrated, we’re all disappointed,” he said. “Just another chance to get out there and get a better feeling is what everybody wants.” Over the next few weeks, the UW will be very busy, with 10 games on the schedule between Friday and the end of spring break. These games don’t get much easier after this weekend. After their makeup game with Portland on Tuesday, the Huskies will host USC for a three-game set before traveling to face rival Oregon, which is currently 13-5 and ranked 12th in the nation. Reach reporter Daniel Rubens at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @Drubens12

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