Almost a week after experiencing a harsh series of losses to Baseball America’s eighth-ranked California Bears, the Husky baseball team will look to bounce back at home against UCLA (20-16, 4-5 Pac-10).

UW (24-14, 4-5 Pac-10) will send Jorden Merry (5-0, 2.10 ERA) to the mound this evening against UCLA’s Tim Murphy (3-4, 3.45 ERA) and follow up tomorrow and Sunday with Nick Haughian (4-3) and Cam Nobles (3-2).

Both teams rank near the bottom in most offensive categories in the Pac-10. Fortunately, the Huskies have proven most of this season that pitching matters most: They will have an advantage over the Bruins on that front, as the Dawgs rank among the top two in the conference in most pitching categories.

Despite the offensive troubles both teams have been having, the Bruins will bring a .400 hitter to the plate with infielder Alden Carrithers, who has started in all 36 of his team’s games this season. Carrithers has also hit four home runs and driven in a team-leading 34 runs for the Bruins.

UW coach Ken Knutson said that even though Carrithers is a tough out, the Dawgs aren’t likely to pitch around him.

“He’s having a good year,” Knutson said. “We’ll go at him and try to make tough pitches for him to hit.”

Beyond Carrithers, only two other Bruins are batting over .300 — something the Husky pitchers could feel at ease about after facing off against a power-heavy Cal lineup last week.

Yet the Huskies have had their troubles on offense as well.

Only Bradley Boyer has started more than 30 games and is hitting over .300 for the Dawgs, although designated hitter Ty Rasmussen and outfielder Kyle Conley come close, batting .296 and .289, respectively. Conley is also helping in other ways; he hit nine home runs and knocked in 32 runs in 37 games.

Despite this, many of the Huskies have been slow to contribute. This includes mainstays Michael Burgher and Joey Dunn, whose average has dropped to .231 in recent weeks.

Knutson said part of the problem has been facing tougher pitching in the Pac-10 than in non-conference games, but he noted that situational hitting is also bringing down the team.

“What we haven’t done is driven the ball or gotten hits with guys on base,” he said. “But I feel like we’ve gotten a little better since conference play started.”

Even with some offensive troubles, things look bright for the Huskies as they try to break through in the Pac-10 against what could be considered a middle-of-the-road UCLA team.