One win down, a few more to go.

After a convincing 9-3 win over BYU Wednesday night, the Washington baseball team continues its quest to make the NCAA tournament this weekend with a must-win series against Arizona.

Like the Huskies, the Wildcats have surged late, winning nine of their last 13 games. UW head baseball coach Ken Knutson knows not to take them lightly.

“I don’t think it’ll be easy at all,” Knutson said. “They’ve been playing better, and they’re the best offensive team in the league.”

Not only that, the Wildcats will be throwing one of the Pac-10’s best pitchers in the first game Saturday: Preston Guilmet, who is 5-4 with a 3.46 ERA.

Guilmet has had success against the Huskies in the past, limiting the Dawgs to one run in a loss at Safeco Field last year and shutting them out two years ago in a 7-0 win.

This is part of the reason why Knutson will be starting Jason Erickson in the first game, to help the Huskies get a win right off the bat.

Erickson is 4-4 with a 4.91 ERA, but in recent weeks, he has limited opposition and kept batters off balance.

In addition to Erickson, Knutson said he will likely start freshman Andrew Kittredge during the series. Kittredge is one of the Dawgs’ more consistent pitchers with a 3.00 ERA and .231 opponent batting average.

“I think we just feel good out [on the mound],” Knutson said. “And that takes the pressure off our offense. They don’t have to feel like they have to score eight or nine runs a game.”

But the offense did more than enough Wednesday with a balanced attack, getting home runs from Troy Scott and Jake Rife and RBI from Brendan Gardner-Young and Caleb Brown.

“Scott had a good day; Rife’s been good; Gardner-Young has been steady,” Knutson said. “But I think Brown is like our wildcard in our lineup. He’s been giving us a boost.”

To reach the postseason for the first time since 2004, the Huskies will need to win both of their upcoming series against Arizona and Washington State. That would give them at least a plus-.500 record, a number the Dawgs need to even be considered for postseason selection. Four wins will also give the Huskies a 16-11 record in conference play, likely good enough for second or third place in the Pac-10 and enough for an NCAA tournament bid.

It won’t be easy, considering both upcoming series are on the road, but Knutson said the team is up to the challenge.

“It’s sort of like six one-game seasons,” Knutson said. “We’ve got to try to win them all.”

Reach reporter Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.