BIG WEST ON THE RISE.

Byline: HEATHER GRIPP College Baseball 

The Pacific-10 Conference has long been viewed as the toughest in West Coast college baseball. However, many in the Big West Conference would like to change that perception, and this past weekend provided some support for that position.

The Big West has two nationally-ranked teams, Cal State Long Beach and UC Irvine. That says nothing of first-place Cal State Fullerton, which dropped out of the rankings after a rough start but has since returned to form.

Even the talent of the teams at the bottom of the conference standings was clear last weekend, when upsets were plentiful.

``There's no playing second fiddle to the Pac-10,'' said Cal State Northridge coach Steve Rousey, whose last-place Matadors won their series against UC Irvine.

``The Big West, the teams from top to bottom are very good. This weekend was evidence of that. People are going to be beating people. It's tough. It just speaks to the depth of the conference. It's difficult in that no one is a pushover. We're probably the biggest pushover, and here we are taking two of three from Irvine.

``We've got a lot of really good arms in this conference, and offensively it's a little bit of an up year.''

Rousey calls Long Beach State's pitching staff ``as good as any in the nation,'' and his team has faced defending national champion Rice and its heralded staff this year.

But even with its talented staff, led by Jered Weaver (Simi Valley), Long Beach wasn't able to avoid last weekend's rash of upsets. The 49ers, ranked No. 5 at the time, were swept by UC Santa Barbara. The fourth- place Gauchos became the first team this season to not lose to Weaver, who surrendered a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and got a no-decision.

Santa Barbara also has the only conference victory over Cal State Fullerton this season.

Also, seventh-place Pacific earned just its third conference win of the season by taking two of three from third-place UC Riverside.

UC Irvine, which had entered its series against CSUN ranked No. 14 in the nation, dropped into a three-way tie for fourth in the Big West after the weekend.

The Pac-10 counters with a tight race of its own. Top-ranked Stanford is on track to repeat as conference champion, but Washington State and Arizona State have performed well enough to join the Cardinal in the national rankings.

Unranked UCLA has defeated Stanford and moved into sole possession of third place by taking two of three from USC over the weekend.

``There's a lot of really good baseball on the West Coast,'' Rousey said. ``It's not just one conference.''

--Weaver the strikeout king: Weaver set two school strikeout records Friday against UCSB. He broke Rocky Biddle's career strikeout record in the seventh inning, then broke his own single-season record in the eighth.

Weaver has 361 career strikeouts, including 146 this season. His 14 strikeouts against the Gauchos marked the 10th time in 13 starts this season that Weaver (12-0) has had double-digit strikeouts.

Weaver, who holds the 49ers record with 34 career wins, is one win shy of tying the Big West record.

--Offensive explosion: CSUN hit nine home runs in its three games against UC Irvine, giving the Matadors 48 in 45 games. That is a significant jump from a year ago, when they finished with 38 homers and no player hit more than six.

Sophomore Michael Paulk increased his conference-best home run total to 13 with a shot in Sunday's 7-5 victory. He homered twice, including one of the Matadors' two grand slams, in Saturday's 21-16 loss.