Consecutive Series Losses Means Beavers Need Big Week

The Beavers are now more than halfway through their Pac-10 schedule, and it's come to the point where the team's biggest week is the one one ahead. 

And it will probably stay that way, through the end of the season. 

After dropping last weekend's series to UCLA, the Beavers find themselves at 9-6 in the Pac-10. The Beavers started out the schedule by earning series wins against Oregon, Cal, and Arizona, but then have slipped in the past two weeks against USC and UCLA. 

The Beavers will have to take care of in-state rival Oregon in a midweek game on Tuesday. The Ducks come into the series at 3-12 in the Pac-10 on the year, with one of their wins coming against the Beavers on March 28 at PGE Park. 

With Arizona State coming to town this weekend, the Beavers have an opportunity to show who they are and what they've got against the No. 1 team in the nation. It's a chance to move beyond the series losses to UCLA and USC, and prove to the conference that the Beavers are a serious contender in the postseason. The Sun Devils have won every Pac-10 series so far this season, dropping single games to Washington State, USC, and Cal.

Winning the conference might be a stretch now with the Sun Devils at 15-3 and the Beavers at 9-6, but we all know how important hosting a Regional/ Super Regional can be for a team who is itching to get to Omaha. 

Besides Oregon, the four remaining Pac-10 series opponents on the schedule are in the top two-thirds of the conference. Washington State is currently 10-5 in the Pac-10, and Washington and Stanford are two teams gridlocked in the middle of the conference standings. 

Every game since the end of February has mattered, but it seems that the pressure to win is increasing more and more by the game.

Let's make a run at this thing. 

--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)