The WSU baseball team is in search of its second consecutive series win, and fourth victory in its past five series, in the Bay Area this weekend.

Facing a floundering California team, the Cougars (14-8, 1-2) will take on a Golden Bears lineup that has lost four straight games, a streak that featured a 20-0 loss to UCLA on Sunday. WSU is fresh off a series win over Cal-State Northridge after taking three-of-four games from the Matadors last weekend.

“I thought we improved as a club this weekend,” Head Coach Marty Lees said. “Obviously, we’d like to get four out of four, but I did see some gains in all areas of the game of baseball.”

Junior third baseman Shane Matheny leads the improved Cougars squad. He is among the Pac-12’s leaders in most major offensive statistics. The Bremerton native boasts top-10 rankings in on-base percentage, total bases and batting average to complement his conference-leading .631 slugging percentage.

To accompany Matheny’s hot start to the season, WSU’s starting lineup features four other hitters with batting averages of .300 or higher. Junior outfielder J.J. Hancock, junior first baseman James Rudkin, freshman infielder Dillon Plew and sophomore catcher Cory Meyer have all been major components in the Cougars’ top-flight offense.

“We’re hitting a lot of doubles,” Lees said. “That’s what our goal is. We’d like to hit a lot of doubles, get runners to second base to lead off innings or score runners from first base. I’m happy with the approach where that’s all concerned.”

WSU has quickly become an offensive power, with an offense posting top-three marks in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, RBIs, doubles, total bases, walks and sacrifice bunts.

The Golden Bears’ pitching staff ranks near the bottom in the Pac-12 in almost all major statistical categories. Cal ranks ninth out of 11 teams in hits allowed, 10th in ERA and runs allowed and last in batting average, strikeouts and runs allowed.

Despite the matchup pitting a strong offense against a struggling pitching staff, do not expect a blowout series win in favor of the Cougars.

The Cougars have a glaring deficiency in the fielding department – they are at the bottom of the conference in most fielding statistics. WSU posts the ninth-lowest fielding percentage, has committed the third-most errors and surrendered the second-most stolen bases in the Pac-12.

The Cougars’ fielding issues have been their Achilles heel all year. In eight losses, WSU committed a combined 20 errors. WSU’s 30 errors on the season have led to 28 unearned runs, the third-largest tally in the Pac-12, and just one less than a 13th-ranked Arizona team that has played two more games than the Cougars.

“The weekend [Cal] had last weekend is not indicative of who they are,” Lees said of Cal’s recent struggles. “I know they’re going to be ready to rebound, so we’re going to have to be ready. They’re very offensive. If we don’t do the things we’ve been doing lately, it doesn’t matter who we play.”

The first pitch between the Cougars and the Golden Bears is slated for 7:05 p.m. tonight. There is currently no broadcast schedule for the series.