Jorden Merry isn’t one to get discouraged.

The senior pitcher struggled in recent weeks with his ERA ballooning to 6.35, and he was dropped from the starting rotation in favor of a freshman midseason.

But the Pasco, Wash., native expects more of himself. This is why he said he rediscovered his confidence, enough so that UW head coach Ken Knutson will start him tonight at Safeco Field in the first of three games against No. 25 Oregon State.

Now Merry is ready to return to last year’s form, when he went 8-2 and posted a 3.61 ERA.

“These last five weeks I’ve been working really hard because I wasn’t performing to my standards, let alone the team’s,” Merry said. “It was just a confidence issue, battling myself in my head.”

UW assistant baseball coach Tighe Dickinson said Merry has made the necessary adjustments, and Knutson said he always has faith in his seniors and expects Merry to have success against the Beavers.

“He was just in a rut, in a slump,” Knutson said. “He would just doubt himself, throw some balls and can’t throw another strike. But he’s got the ability to be dominant. I’m expecting big things with the venue Pac-10 match against Oregon State; it’s all going for him.”

Merry has a similar attitude and isn’t thinking much about past success or failure; he’s just going out to pitch.

“I just said [screw] it,” Merry said. “I’m going to go out and throw hard.”

The Huskies might be using a similar philosophy in their team approach.

Knutson said his team (21-23, 8-10 Pac-10), which swept its past two series, isn’t going to change a thing during its three-game set against OSU (28-12, 11-7 Pac-10).

This approach seems to have worked well for the Huskies, who outscored Oregon and USC 34-15 the last two weekends.

Pitching has been stellar, with Jason Erickson earning Pac-10 Player of the Week honors and Andrew Kittredge continuing to flash a power fastball and slick slider.

The Husky offense has also come around enough to give pitchers run support. And with the addition of Pierce Rankin and Aaron Russell, who were both out to injury, the Huskies could add a bit more juice to a lineup that was ailing for most of the season.

But the Huskies are in a tricky situation.

A series win against the Beavers this weekend would likely put the Huskies in the top three or four spots in the Pac-10 and mean that NCAA-tournament play may be just around the corner.

A series loss, however, would push their hopes into 2010.

Perhaps Merry’s father offers the perfect advice for him and the team: “My dad always says to just keep doing what I do best,” Merry said. “No point in changing.”

Reach reporter Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.