Cougs, Bears both looking to climb Pac-12 ladder

As far as Pac-12 Conference play is concerned, both California and Washington State have something to prove.

The Cougars, voted last in the league's preseason baseball poll, have almost dedicated this season to dispelling the notion that they're the conference's worst squad. However, dropping two of three against USC - voted second-to-last in that same poll - in their conference opener two weeks ago probably didn't help that cause much.

The Golden Bears didn't enter this season with high expectations from the league's coaches, either, and so far have done very little to indicate they won't hang out near the bottom of the conference most of the season.

Cal (9-13, 1-5), which begins a three-game series with WSU (14-8, 1-2) tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Evans Diamond in Berkeley, Calif., has just one conference win to its name, and was on the wrong end of 20-0 result against UCLA on Sunday while being swept by the Bruins. Prior to that, the Bears dropped two of three at home against Oregon in their conference opener.

Like the Cougars, Cal is counting on a host of young - and new - faces to be significant contributors, which is perhaps why WSU coach Marty Lees isn't subscribing to the idea that his opponent's previous conference series make this matchup any easier.

"The weekend they had last weekend is not very indicative of who they are," Lees said of Cal, which has lost four straight, including a 3-1 defeat against Long Beach State on Monday. "I know that Cal is very good. The starting pitching that they have is good. I know they're going to be ready to rebound. We're going to have to be ready."

Offensively, Cal's lone bright spot has been its ability to hit the long ball. Freshman Andrew Vaughn leads the Pac-12 in home runs with seven and his team sits atop the conference with 17 homers. Vaughn's batting average of .347 is a team-high, but his team is 10th in on-base percentage (.334) and RBI (81).

Defensively, the Cougars, should they continue the type of effort that earned them a series victory over Cal State Northridge, are equipped to keep the Bears off the board. WSU's six runners picked off is the second-best mark in the league, as are the team's 21 double plays turned (Cal leads the league in the latter category with 25).

Starting on the mound tonight for Cal is freshman right-hander Jared Horn (1-2), owner of a 4.85 ERA. The Cougars will trot out their usual Friday night starter, righty Damon Jones (2-1, 3.94 ERA).

Mixing in a non-conference series with CSUN last weekend allowed WSU to "figure out some things as you prepare for another Pac-12 Conference series against Cal," junior Blake Canton said. "It helps you get back in your rhythm and fix things that you need to work on."

JJ Hancock, who has come on strong as of late and is batting .338 with 13 RBI and a team-best three home runs, called their four-game break from conference play an opportunity for "relaxation," which may prove beneficial as the Cougars try to duplicate the success they have at home (where they're 10-1) on the road (where they're 4-7).

"We're really relaxed as a team," said Hancock, who had a pair of doubles and a homer against CSUN. "We're sticking to our plans offensively, on defense and on the pitching side. So we just got to transition (that) to the road."

Michael-Shawn Dugar can be reached at (208) 883-4627, by email to mdugar@dnews.com or on Twitter to @MikeDugar.