The Nederland Bulldogs figure to have their work cut out for them with this weekend's best-of-three Class 4A Region III semifinals series against the Friendswood Mustangs.

But Nederland baseball coach Cody Robbins says, "if you're going to be the best, you have to beat the best."

Friendswood (25-7) may very well be the best in regards to this series matchup, which starts at 7:30 tonight at the University of Houston.

The Mustangs have plenty of talent and playoff experience.

Friendswood even has playoff history with Cougar Field, as UofH hosted the same round of the Region III playoffs a year ago between Friendswood and Lamar Consolidated.

Friendswood won that series in three games and eventually went on to the final four in Austin. A big part of the Mustangs 2008 success came from the hands of their first baseman Alex Anastas, who hit a two-run homer in the decisive game against Lamar Consolidated.

Now a senior and soon to be Houston Cougar, Anastas appears to be even more dangerous this season, leading his team with nine homers and 43 RBIs. In the postseason, he has one round tripper, has driven in five runs and has a .357 average.

His .383 season average, which is .100 points better than last year's, also helped the Mustangs claim the District 24-4A title.

But Anastas is just the anchor of a team with an all-around tough lineup. The Mustangs roasted Texas City for an 18-5 decision in the third and decisive game in the previous round. In total, they outscored Texas City 28-9.

Friendswood has good pitching, as ace Kyle Burris has just one loss on the season. That one came in a 2-1 decision in Game 2 against Texas City.

With all that talent and experience, it appears that Nederland might be going into this series as the underdogs.

But Robbins is fine with that too.

"We know they're good. I haven't seen them personally but we've had scouts at their last few games," Robbins explained. "They wouldn't be here if they weren't good. We know we will see good pitching, good defense and good hitting. That's what you expect at this point in the season."

Robbins added that he does not think a lack of playoff experience is going to hurt his Bulldogs, who have not been in the postseason since 2006.

The fifth year coach quickly pointed out that experience was not a factor during their run to the District 20-4A title. Nederland dropped to 1-1 after a loss to Port Neches-Groves on March 20th. A lesser team would have sunk their heads, but not these Bulldogs.