The time has come again, as it does every year. Crimson will clash with purple. Cats will fight with dogs. The WSU Cougars will meet their nemesis, the Washington Huskies, on Friday in Seattle for the baseball version of the classic rivalry. 

This year, the Huskies enter the series at the top of the Pac-12 with a 14-4 record in the conference. The Huskies are ranked as high as fifth in the Collegiate Baseball poll. 

“It’s obviously a big game,” said redshirt junior Trace Tam Sing. “They hate us, we hate them. It’s definitely a rivalry and I want to win.”

Washington is on somewhat of a cold stretch, having lost their last two games, one against the California Golden Bears and one against Seattle University. However, those two losses both came on the road. The Huskies rarely lose at home, and are 13-2 at home this season. Despite that lopsided record, Tam Sing isn’t worried about playing the rivalry series on the road. 

“I’m from that area so I’m pretty comfortable,” Tam Sing said. “I’ve played on that field so many times and I don’t think it’s really an advantage either way. It’s fun going over there and playing in front of your family and friends, and hopefully we get a win, and I want to win really bad.”

Meanwhile, the Cougars have lost four games straight in alarming fashion. In those four games, WSU was outscored 26-7, and the starting pitchers combined for 17 innings pitched. In other words, the four starters have averaged less than five innings pitched during the skid. 

Junior Joe Pistorese, who will toe the rubber for the Cougars on Friday against junior right-hander Jared Fisher, had a particularly rough time in his last outing. Pistorese gave up eight runs on five hits, walked four and struck out two over four innings. In two starts prior to that, Pistorese threw two complete games and gave up one total run.         

On Saturday, junior Tanner Chleborad is set to oppose junior Tyler Davis, who is 8-1 with a 1.54 ERA in 58 1/3 innings pitched this season. Davis has struck out 34 batters compared to only eight walks. 

The final game of the series on Sunday will pit senior Jason Monda against junior Jeff Brigham. Monda had the best start over the Cougars’ last four games, going six innings and allowing two runs on three hits. 

WSU’s pitchers will have to throw the ball by the likes of senior Brian Wolfe, junior Robert Pehl, and sophomore Braden Bishop, who all can hurt opposing teams in different ways. All of them have more than 40 hits on the season, and Wolfe leads the team with a .400 batting average. Wolfe and Pehl are the power guys in the lineup, tied for the team lead in home runs with four. Bishop is batting a healthy .314, which more significant because he has swiped 14 bases in 15 attempts. 

The Cougars have some firepower in their lineup as well. This season, the team has relied heavily on junior Yale Rosen and redshirt sophomore Nick Tanielu, who have not disappointed often. They lead all regular starters in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. 

 WSU will again play without Head Coach Donnie Marbut. He will not be in the dugout during the series this weekend as he serves a six-game suspension for his ejection from a game against the Oregon Ducks last weekend. 

The first pitch for Game 1 of the storied rivalry is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised by Pac-12 Washington. 

“This is huge. Our next Pac-12 series coming up, we have to win. It comes down to that,” Trace Tam Sing said. “We have to win those games. This is huge for us. If we don’t sweep, I’m not going to be happy.”