TUCSON, Ariz. -- After having Friday night's game washed out due to rain and wet field conditions, the Arizona Wildcats are slated to officially open their 2018 season Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader against Bryant.

The Wildcats took Game 1 behind a strong performance from starting pitcher Cody Deason. Deason tossed seven shutout innings, before giving way to Robby Medel, Randy Labaut and Tylor Megill. Deason earned the win and Megill got the save. 

In the nightcap, Michael Flynn tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings and Medel locked it down to give Arizona a 5-1 win and a doubleheader sweep. 

Arizona now goes for the series sweep Sunday at noon. 

Sat., Feb. 16    2 p.m.    Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)    Arizona 4, Bryant 0
Sat., Feb. 17    6 p.m.    Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)    Arizona 5, Bryant 1.
Sun., Feb. 18   noon      Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)    TBA vs. LHP Vito Morgese

Live Stream: Available through ArizonaWildcats.com
Radio: There will be no radio broadcasts.
Live Stats: Live stats will be available through ArizonaWildcats.com.
All-time series: First meeting

Leading Off...
•    The Arizona Wildcats are set to open their 2018 campaign with a three-game series at home versus Bryant. 
•    Coach Jay Johnson is 4-0 in his career as a Division I head coach on Opening Days, going 2-0 at Nevada and 2-0 at Arizona. 
•    The Wildcats currently have a nine-game Opening Day winning streak, last losing on Opening Day at Georgia in 2008. Arizona hasn't lost an Opening Day game at home since falling to BYU 6-3 in 2003. The Wildcats haven't lost an opening series since dropping two of three to New Mexico in 1994. 
•    Cesar Salazar, Michael Flynn, Alfonso Rivas and Cody Deason have won 87 games their first two seasons at Arizona, which is the most by an Arizona player since David Shermet, Chip Stratton and Michael Thorell won 96 in 1985 and 1986. 
•    Junior first baseman Alfonso Rivas enters the season as a first-team NCBWA preseason All-American, and a second-team pick by D1 Baseball and a third-team selection by Baseball America. Rivas had the most RBI by an Arizona underclassman since 2003 when he drove in 63 last year.
•    Cody Deason will get the Opening Day start. An Arizona Opening Day starter hasn't given up more than three runs in a start since 2008.

For Openers: For the second time in three seasons under coach Jay Johnson, the Arizona Wildcats will begin their season at home, which is usually a good sign. The Wildcats haven't lost an Opening Day game at home since a 6-3 setback to BYU in 2003. Arizona hasn't lost an opening series since dropping two of three to New Mexico in 1994. Under Johnson, Arizona has outscored its opponents 14-1 in two Opening Day games. All total, Arizona has a nine-game Opening Day winning streak. Arizona last lost on Opening Day in 2008 at Georgia, but still managed to take two of three that weekend from the Bulldogs.

Year	Opponent	Opening Day Result	Series Result
2017	Eastern Kentucky	W, 6-0	W, 4-0
2016	at Rice	W, 8-1	W, 2-1
2015	Eastern Michigan	W, 7-3	W, 3-0
2014	Kent State	W, 13-1	W, 2-1
2013	Coppin State	W, 16-0	W, 3-0

 
 
Dealing on Opening Day: Junior right-hander Cody Deason has earned the starting assignment for Opening Day this season. He will look to turn in a dominant performance the way several other Wildcats have done in the past. Since 2010, every Arizona Opening Day starter has gone at least 6 1/3 innings without giving up more than three runs. Five times in that span, the Arizona starter has gone at least seven innings, giving up either one run or zero runs. Kurt Heyer and JC Cloney were especially dominant on Opening Day, combining for five starts, and going 5-0, allowing just three runs in 34 innings.
 

Year	Opponent	Starting Pitcher	Final Line
2017	Eastern Kentucky	JC Cloney	7 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 6 Ks, W
2016	At Rice	JC Cloney	7 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 9 Ks, W
2015	Eastern Michigan	Austin Schnabel	6.2 IP, 3 runs, 8 Ks, W
2014	Kent State	James Farris	7.2 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 9 Ks, W
2013	Coppin State	Konner Wade	6.1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 8 Ks, W
2012	North Dakota State	Kurt Heyer	7 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 7 Ks, W
2011	North Dakota State	Kurt Heyer	7 IP, 5 hits, 0 runs, 8 Ks, W
2010	Utah Valley	Kurt Heyer	6 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 13 Ks, W

 
 
Jay's Day: Not only have the Wildcats experienced continued success on Opening Day, so has coach Jay Johnson. Entering his fifth season as a Division I coach, Johnson is 4-0 on Opening Days. His Nevada team beat Boston College 4-1 on Opening Day in 2014 in Santa Clara, California. One year later, the Wolfpack beat Abilene Christian 12-2. Johnson is of course 2-0 on Opening Day as Arizona's skipper with wins at Rice and versus Eastern Kentucky.
 
First Up: Junior Alfonso Rivas manned left field as a freshman, before mainly handling the designated hitter role last year as a sophomore. This year, Rivas will move to first base to take over for JJ Matijevic. Rivas was named first-team preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and a second-team pick by D1Baseball and a third-team selection by Baseball America. Rivas hit .371 last season in 58 games. He led the Pac-12 in on-base percentage and totaled 63 RBI, the most by an Arizona underclassman since 2003 when Jeff Van Houten drove in 73. Rivas was ranked as the sixth-best hitter in the country by D1Baseball and the third best first baseman in the nation by D1Baseball.

Player (Class)	Year	RBI
Jeff Van Houten (Sophomore)	2003	72
Alfonso Rivas (Sophomore)	2017	63
Brad Glenn (Sophomore)	2007	62
Jordan Brown (Sophomore)	2004	57
Robert Refsnyder (Sophomore)	2011	55
Bobby Dalbec (Sophomore)	2015	53
Steve Selsky (Sophomore)	2010	52

 
More on Rivas: The junior from San Diego will look to follow up his banner sophomore season with a strong junior year. Interestingly, Rivas didn't play in last year's season opener, and it was the only game he missed all season. Rivas had 20 multiple-hit games last year, while leading the team with 15 multiple-RBI games. He enters the season carrying a seven-game hitting streak from last year and an 11-game on-base streak. Both streaks are the longest by an active Wildcat. Rivas will be a sure fire middle-of-the-order bat for the Wildcats this season after starting 24 times as the team's No. 2 hitter last year and 17 times as the third-place hitter.
 
Pac-12 Leaders in On-Base Percentage (2017):
1. Alfonso Rivas, Arizona, .483
2. Dallas Carroll, Utah, .465
3. Nick Madrigal, Oregon State, .449
4. Cal Stevenson, Arizona. .448
 
Pac-12 Leaders in Batting Average (2017):
1. JJ Matijevic, Arizona, .383
2. Nick Madrigal, Oregon State, .380
3. Alfonso Rivas, Arizona, .371
 
 
The 1-2 Punch: Following Cody Deason's start on Friday, fellow junior righty Michael Flynn is scheduled to start Saturday's second game. The two right-handers from Southern California had similarly strong years last year. Deason tossed 53 2/3 innings, posting a 5-3 record and a 3.86 ERA, while totaling 49 strikeouts and walking 19. He also earned two saves. Flynn tossed 52 innings, going a perfect 5-0 with a 3.29 ERA. He also struck out 49 and walked 13, while allowing opposing hitters to bat just .216. He had one save. Flynn went 1-0 as a freshman and has to suffer a loss in his Wildcat career.
 
Hitters Hit: Arizona returns several key pieces from last year's team, which was one of the best offensive clubs in the nation. Arizona led the Pac-12 in batting average (.308), doubles (133), RBI (396), runs (453) and slugging percentage (.442). Arizona's .308 average was the team's best since the 2012 National Championship team hit .329. The 132 doubles were the most since the Cats had 133 in 2009. The 36 team home runs were also the most since hitting 46 in 2009. Among the offensive faces back this year include Alfonso Rivas, Cal Stevenson, Cesar Salazar, Nick Quintana and Mitchell Morimoto.
 
New Number, Better Cal?: Cal Stevenson returns to the Wildcats for his senior season, but will do so with a new number and a new position. Stevenson, who wore No. 3 last year, will wear No. 8 this year after his favorite player and namesake, Cal Ripken Jr. Stevenson will also move from right field to centerfield for his final year as a Wildcat. Stevenson batted .311 last season, playing in 58 of 59 games. He led the Pac-12 in runs (61) and walks (48). He had 19 multiple-hit games and was one of four players to hit above .300 in conference play for the Wildcats. Stevenson was named to Perfect Game's Preseason All-Pac-12 team with Alfonso Rivas and should occupy the leadoff spot for the Wildcats this season, after batting there 35 times last year.
 
Pac-12 leaders in runs scored (2017):
1. Cal Stevenson, Arizona, 61
2. JJ Matijevic, Arizona, 57
3. Jared Oliva, Arizona, 56
4. Alfonso Rivas, Arizona, 54
 
Pac-12 leaders in walks (2017):
1. Cal Stevenson, Arizona, 48
2. Matt Winaker, Stanford, 42
3. Alfonso Rivas, Arizona, 39
3. Trevor Larnach, Oregon State, 39
 
All Hail, Cesar: Cesar Salazar returns for his third consecutive season as Arizona's primary backstop. Salazar has started exactly 100 games at catcher the past two seasons, and has played in 117 games total. The junior from Hermosillo, Mexico, was named All-Pac-12 first-team last year, and was also a member of the Lubbock All-Regional team last year after a strong three-game performance in the postseason. Salazar's offensive production increased last season in several areas. Salazar improved his average, doubles, home runs, RBI and walks total, while striking out three fewer times. He's also posted back-to-back fielding percentages of .992 behind the plate. Salazar threw out 11 of 37 potential base stealers last season.
 
Winners Time Four: In their first two games in the program, juniors Cesar Salazar, Alfonso Rivas, Michael Flynn and Cody Deason have won 87 games. No Arizona player has won more in their first two seasons in Tucson since the mid-1980s. Johnny Field and Brandon Dixon, freshmen in 2011, also won 87 games over their first two seasons, capturing the National Championship in 2012. Rivas has started 101 games in that span, while Salazar is one start behind at 100 games. Deason has appeared in 43 total games, while Flynn has made 36 appearances.

Wins	Seasons	Player(s)
99	1975-76	Les Pearsey
96	1985-86	David Shermet, Chip Stratton, Michael Thorell
95	1973-74	Dave Stegman
88	1979-80	Patt Roessler, Dwight Taylor
87	2016-17	Cesar Salazar, Alfonso Rivas, Michael Flynn, Cody Deason
87	2011-12	Brandon Dixon, Johnny Field
86	1978-79	Terry Francona