Huskies travel to Pasco for Apple Cup series

May 17, 2013, 12:00 AM

The Washington baseball team has found no success away from home this season. Although it has a winning record at home, the Huskies are 9-22 during their travels, which has pushed them toward the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. This weekend, they’ll play the final road series of the year, and it’s a big one. The main reason is the opponent: Washington State. The Huskies will travel across the state to meet the Cougars for three games at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, Wash. The games will count as home games for the Cougars, although they are not being played at Washington State’s official home in Pullman, Wash. UW head coach Lindsay Meggs will stick with the same rotation he has used throughout much of conference play. Jared Fisher will take the hill in Friday’s opener, followed by Austin Voth on Saturday. Fisher and Voth have both been excellent of late. Fisher, a sophomore right-hander from Bellevue, Wash., is 2-2 with a 2.62 ERA, and he has allowed just four earned runs in his last 29 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, Voth has more than kept pace, as he sports a 2.65 ERA and is second in the conference in strikeouts. “Austin was about as good as he has been,” Meggs said of Voth after his last start Saturday against Utah. “He was throwing 95 miles per hour in the seventh inning and worked down in the zone. He has really improved week in and week out in terms of his slider. He did a nice job.” Voth will have to try to continue that momentum against a very tough Washington State lineup that scores a lot of runs. The Cougars (21-27, 8-16 Pac-12) are hitting .298, good for second in the Pac-12, and are fourth in the conference in runs scored. They also have pop, as the Cougars are in the top four of the Pac-12 in doubles, triples, and home runs. However, Washington State’s strength is certainly at the dish, and the Huskies (19-31, 10-14) will try to take advantage of a mediocre pitching staff and lackluster defense. WSU’s staff has a 4.21 ERA, fourth-worst in the Pac-12, and it has committed a conference-worst 73 errors (1.52 errors per game). Those will be pleasing numbers for a UW team that has hit the ball well recently. One notable player who has stepped up is catcher Parker Guinn. After having started only three of the team’s first 42 games, Guinn has now started six of the past eight games behind the dish and is hitting .435 since a 3-for-3 performance off the bench against Cal. The rivalry kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, with start times of 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Reach reporter Daniel Rubens at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @drubens12

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