The Stanford Softball team will look to continue its five-game winning streak this weekend in a three-game series with archrival Cal.

After faltering early on in conference play, Stanford looks to have found its stride, having won four consecutive conference games.

At 38-7 and 4-5 in conference, the Cardinal sits in a tie for fourth place in the Pacific 10, four games behind first place Arizona State and only a game ahead of Cal, making this weekend’s series all the more important.

The series is a home-and-home of sorts, with Friday and Saturday’s games taking place at Stanford, while the Sunday contest will be played in Berkeley.

As the Cardinal has become accustomed to playing in the exceptionally competitive Pac-10, it faces another nationally ranked team with a star pitcher in a weekend series: this time it’ll be the No. 21 Golden Bears and pitcher Marissa Drewrey.

Drewrey, a sophomore, enters the weekend with a 22-10 record and a 1.68 ERA. She also has an impressive 220 strikeouts in 212 innings pitched.

Stanford coach John Rittman knows that the key to beating Cal is getting to Drewrey.

“Cal’s pitcher is good, and she is a sophomore, so she has a bit of experience getting through conference play. We are going to have to play disciplined to beat them,” said Rittman.

If Drewrey pitches well, the games are likely to be low scoring, because the Cardinal also boasts a star pitcher and another young pitcher who is starting to come into her own.

The Cardinal is led by ace Missy Penna. She enters the weekend with a 26-6 record and a 0.96 ERA for the season to go along with 275 strikeouts.

It is unclear whether Penna can pitch all three games this weekend, but if she cannot, Rittman will send rising star and freshman Ashley Chinn to the circle for the Cardinal.

Chinn is fresh off a no-hitter against Santa Clara on Tuesday, her second of the season. For the year, Chinn is 11-1 with a 1.39 ERA.

Rittman made it seem as if he would not hesitate to start Chinn in big Pac-10 games like the ones this weekend.

“Ashley has pitched well in every outing aside from the Arizona State game, and they are the number one team in the country. I think she learned a lot from that game,” said Rittman.

The Cardinal would like to build off of Chinn’s performance Tuesday and continue its offensive production, which led to the team’s 12-0 win.

Stanford’s offense is led by a pair of sophomores: centerfielder Alissa Haber and catcher Rosey Neill.

Haber leads the team with an impressive .397 batting average to go along with six homeruns and 22 RBIs out of the leadoff spot.

Neill provides the majority of the power in the Cardinal lineup, hitting .380 with 17 homeruns and 45 RBIs.

Neill’s year thus far is among the better individual seasons in Cardinal softball history. She has homered in every weekend series, and with two more homeruns, she will tie teammate Michelle Smith for the most homeruns in a single season by a Stanford player.

In addition, Neill, along with Penna, was recently placed on the 25 person USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch list.

The Cardinal will need great production out of both Haber and Neill if it wishes to get the best of its Bay Area rival.

Beating Cal has been a tall task for Stanford softball in the past. The Cardinal is just 18-28 all time against the Golden Bears, and it has lost two of the three meetings between the teams last season.

Stanford will look to remedy that this weekend, starting Friday at 7 p.m. at Smith Family Stadium.