Here is the schedule for the weekend. The Connecticut game has been moved back a half hour and now has a 12:30pm start time.

And here are the pitching matchups:

As you can see, the Beavers should have the pitching advantage.

Connecticut, despite opening their season 1-2, is ranked #14 by Baseball America. None of the other three teams are ranked, and all are projected to be poor to average teams, so expectations should be for the Beavers to take 3 games this weekend. 2-2 would be an acceptable yet minor disappointment. These games will be played over 4 days, unlike last weekend, so lineups and rest should not play a factor as they did last Saturday night.

Obviously the bats need to come to life. That almost goes without saying. But also keep an eye on base running. The Beavers were 0-3 on stolen base attempts last weekend. Garrett Nash was picked off, and several runners (e.g. Jordan Poyer) made bad judgment calls. Casey made some questionable calls (stealing with Carter Bell, a bunt with 1 out, etc), and the third base coach had two of his runners thrown out at home. Both were problems last year that need to cease starting today. Keep an eye on these things. My opinion is the coaches made those calls out of frustration and desperation to engineer runs. It's still bad coaching, though.

The pattern last year was that when the pitching did well the hitting lacked and visa versa. The team could not string together a series of good hitting, pitching, and defense. It's early, but the results so far have shown that same, unsettling pattern. I can see a game where we finally score 8 runs but give up 9. Then again, this year's team has better chemistry (and it appears to have better pitching, especially in the pen), so maybe they only give up 7 in those types of games and steal some victories.

Anyway, here's to a 3-1 weekend with no disappointment.

The first pitch of the 2011 baseball season will be thrown 2pm at Beiden Field in Fresno, California. Here's the weekend schedule:

Gonzaga will throw Ryan Carpenter in game 1 on Saturday. His stats last year were: 4-4, 5.67 ERA, 60.1 IP, 53 K

And this is his 2010 bio:

Started all 12 appearances…posted a 4-4 record and a 5.67 ERA…recorded 53 strikeouts in 60.1 innings…held opponents batting average to .273 for 10th-best in the West Coast Conference…recorded the fewest hits allowed on the team with 65…allowed a career-low two home runs…matched career-low of one triple allowed…recorded a no-decision in season debut against the University of Washington Feb. 21, pitched six innings and allowed four runs on four hits, struck out three and walked one…matched career-high of seven innings pitched and earned first win of the season at Centenary College of Louisiana Mar. 6…threw five innings, struck out seven batters, allowed two runs on four hits to earn the win at the University of Hawai`i April 3…earned third win May 15 at Saint Mary's College, pitching six innings, struck out seven and allowed four runs on four hits…recorded fourth win against Loyola Marymount University May 22 after throwing six innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits…struck out nine in 6.2 innings, allowed four hits and one earned run against the University of Portland May 29.

Sam Gaviglio (3-4, 5.60 ERA, 62.2 IP, 45 K) will get the opening day start for the Beavs. Freshman phenom Ben Wetzler will go in game 2.

Last year Gonzaga finished 20-36 overall and 8-13 in the West Coast Conference, however, they've received some votes in the 2011 Collegiate Baseball preseason poll. Oregon State leads the all time series 56-33.

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With regard to Fresno State, the Bulldogs have an all-time mark of 23-8 against the Beavers and have been picked to win the WAC. Collegiate Baseball has ranked them #29 in their top 40 poll. The NCBWA has the Bullodogs ranked #35 in their top 35 poll.

The Preseason All-WAC team included seven Fresno State players: junior outfielder Brennan Gowens, junior outfielder Dusty Robinson, senior first baseman Jordan Ribera, senior shortstop Garrett Weber, senior third baseman Danny Muno, junior catcher Trent Garrison and senior starting pitcher Greg Gonzalez.

Fresno State has not determined their starters for either game. The Beavers will throw Cam Booser on Sunday, and most likely Matt Boyd on Monday.

Due to injury and suspensions, the Beavers bullpen is understaffed to begin the year, and it will probably hurt them this weekend. Expect a split versus both squads, and a 2-2 mark heading back to Corvallis. Not exactly what we're all hoping for, but it is the likely scenario. Sam Gaviglio should win game 1, which makes Ben Wetzler the wild card. If he wins game 2, the Beavs could come out of this 3-1. Anything less than 2-2 would be a disaster.