No. 7 Long Beach State and Cal Northridge Hosts BYU

Making its final trip before staring conference play at home, BYU returns for another round in California.

The Cougars (4-13) return to California for two games against Cal Northridge (6-11) split between a match-up with No. 7 Long Beach State (9-3).

Patrick Wells (2-2, 4.01) most likely will get the opening start against Cal Northridge on Thursday at 2 p.m. (PST). Wells is coming off a combined 5-0 shutout over Pepperdine in the Battle at the Beach Tournament in Malibu, Calif.

Nathan Hess (1-1, 1.64) makes his first start with the Cougars on Friday against Long Beach State at 6:30 p.m. (PST). Hess has looked well in six appearances, allowing two earned runs in 11 innings and picking up one save.

On Saturday in the second game against Cal State Northridge at 1 p.m. (PST), Justin Su'a (1-1, 3.97) will make his third-straight start. Su'a received a no decision in a 6-3 loss to Cal Northridge last week. He allowed three runs in five and two-thirds innings.

Ranger Wiens hit .500 last week in the three game tournament hosted by Pepperdine. He heads to California with the team's highest current hitting streak at four games.

After claiming the Big West Conference championship in 2002 and losing to BYU in the NCAA Regional Tournament, Cal State Northridge (6-11) fell to a 14-42 mark last season. The Matadors are picked to finish seventh in their conference. Cal Northridge went 1-2 in the Battle at the Beach Tournament in Malibu, Calif., beating BYU but losing 7-4 to Pepperdine and 2-0 to Nevada. Sophomore Michael Paulk is hitting .339 with three home runs and 14 RBI. John Voita leads the team with four home runs. After beating BYU, Craig Baker leads the pitching starters, heading into the series 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA

Ranked No. 7 by Baseball America, Long Beach State (9-3) is led by former University of Utah head coach (1980-81) Mike Weathers. Last week Long Beach won two of three at the University of Houston. Before losing to Houston on Sunday, the 49ers had won six straight. The 49ers host three teams this week beginning with Pepperdine on Tuesday, BYU on Friday and Cal State Northridge on Sunday. Long Beach is picked to finish second in the Big West Conference behind Cal State Fullerton.

Preseason All-American Jered Weaver (4-0, 0.95) will most likely take the mound for the 49ers against the Cougars on Friday. Weaver is coming off his third straight double-digit strikeout game, striking out 10 in a 6-1 win over Houston on Friday. He faced three batters over the minimum, retiring 15 in a row at one point. He has been named the Big West Pitcher of the Week twice in the young season. Jason Vargas is hitting .395 for the 49ers with one home run. In 12 games, Long Beach has only hit three home runs as a team.

The Long Beach State game is available for live audio. A link to the audio cast can be found at www.byucougars.com. None of the games with Cal Northridge are available for live stats or live audio.