Junior catcher Eric Munson, likely to be the first or second pick in next month's amateur draft, missed more than a month of the season after a foul tip March 27 against Washington State cost him a broken bone in his right hand.

Munson, widely regarded as the best defensive catcher in college baseball, batted .392 with 16 home runs and 56 RBI in 1998, and in limited action this year is hitting .312 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI.

Lane missed eight games with a broken thumb, and shortstop Seth Davidson (.356, 34 RBI) sat five games with a pulled quadriceps.

The Trojans' staff is strong one-two but tapers off, featuring Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year Barry Zito, 11-2 with a 3.46 ERA, plus 141 strikeouts in 96.1 innings. The lefthander Zito has won 10 straight starts and headlines a staff that averages 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Justin Lehr is 6-2 with a 4.48 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 98.1 innings, while workhorse Rik Currier, who has appeared in a team-high 26 games, is 6-8 with a 5.61 ERA.

Sweet Virginia

Virginia Commonwealth, the region's No. 3 seed, finished 40-18 and received an at-large bid. The Rams are a Harvard-styled run-and-gun squad, with no starter hitting better than nine home runs.

But VCU boasts a .397 on-base percentage and has stolen 98 bases in 139 attempts, and averages over seven runs per game.

Cory Bauswell is the resident power hitter, with a .320 batting average, nine home runs and 52 RBI. Jake Anthony hits .402 with eight home runs and 49 batted in. Anthony has 78 hits plus 28 walks for an on-base percentage of .518.

The Rams make their living by scrapping and by holding opponents to a .256 average behind three bedrock starters--Jason Dubois (9-3, 3.12), Marc Fisher (9-3, 3.93) and John Korn (8-4, 4.46). All have logged at least 100 innings of work.