Bests of The Week

Baseball

* Chico State at Cal State Los Angeles, Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday (doubleheader), 1 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m.--Winning at least three of the four games against the top team in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. is essential for Cal State L.A., which won three of four games against Cal Poly Pomona last weekend to stay in the race for a berth in the conference tournament.

Men’s Tennis

* Stanford at UCLA, L.A. Tennis Center, Saturday, noon--Can the third time be the charm for the Bruins? Top-ranked and undefeated Stanford already has dealt identical 4-3 losses to UCLA. The Cardinal has three of the top 15 singles players in the country in Alex Kim, Geoff Abrams and K.J. Hippensteel.

Softball

* Utah State at Long Beach State, Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m.--After dropping two of three games against Cal State Northridge in a battle for first place, Long Beach will face an Aggie team that always has given it trouble. Long Beach leads the all-time series, 21-20-1.

Men’s Volleyball

* Hawaii at USC, North Gym, Saturday, 7 p.m.--Beating Long Beach State earned USC a No. 1 national ranking by Volleyball magazine but the Trojans are only seeded third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. USC has won 10 of its last 11 matches, Hawaii nine of 10.

Women’s Water Polo

* Southern California Regional Qualifier, USC, Friday and Saturday, all day--The top four teams will qualify for the national championship in Bloomington, Ind., May 5-7. UCLA is top seeded and defending national champion USC is seeded second. Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Barbara are also competing.