LOS ANGELES -- The Arizona Wildcats won their ninth game in their last 10 Friday night against USC, opening the three-game series with a 14-2 win over the Trojans at Dedeaux Field. 

Cody Deason tossed six strong innings and Nick Quintana had three doubles and four RBI to pace the offense, which as scored 51 runs in the last four games. 

The Trojans then got even in the second game of the series, topping Arizona 12-2 behind a strong performance from starting pitcher Solomon Bates. 

The rubber match Sunday is now set for 2 p.m., on the campus of USC. 

All three games will be televised by Pac-12 Network. A full preview is below:

Date        Time (MST)    Location (Ballpark)                                Probable Starters/Results
Fri., April 13    7 p.m.    Los Angeles, Calif. (Dedeaux Field)      Arizona 14, USC 2
Sat., April 14    2 p.m.    Los Angeles, Calif. (Dedeaux Field)     USC 12, Arizona 2
Sun., April 15    2 p.m.    Los Angeles, Calif. (Dedeaux Field)    LHP Quentin Longrie vs. TBA

TV: Pac-12 Network with J.B. Long (PBP) and Scott Erickson (Analyst) on the call
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network with Brian Jeffries on the call. 
Live Stats: Available through http://www.sidearmstats.com/usc/baseball/

All-Time Series: USC leads 121-111-1
Last Meeting: Arizona swept a three-game series in Tucson in 2017.

Leading Off...
•    Two teams coming off a conference series win will hook up in Los Angeles this weekend when USC and Arizona get together. USC took two of three in Phoenix against Arizona State after dropping the opener. Arizona took two of three from Oregon State, also after losing the opener. 
•    Arizona's series win over Oregon State was the program's first over a top-five team since No. 8 Arizona swept No. 2 Stanford in 2012 at Hi Corbett Field. Arizona then topped Grand Canyon on Tuesday, 16-1.
•    Arizona enters the weekend with a staff ERA of 2.74, which is the seventh-best mark in the country. Showing how difficult it can be in the Pac-12, Arizona's 2.74 mark is fourth-best among Power 5 schools and third-best in the league behind UCLA and Stanford.
•    Sophomore third baseman Nick Quintana is 19 for his last 35 and has six home runs in his last seven games. Quintana has 20 RBI in his last nine games, with seven home runs. 
•    Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon is 23 for his last 55. He has 19 RBI in his last 12 games and has four home runs in his last seven contests. He homered in three straight games last week against New Mexico and Oregon State.
•    Arizona's team batting average has risen from .251 to .295 since March 18.
•    Coach Jay Johnson is 4-2 against USC since arriving at Arizona.

Some Series Themes: Arizona and USC will hook up for a three-game conference series at Dedeaux Field, beginning Friday evening…The Wildcats swept the Trojans last year in Tucson, winning 9-4, 5-1 and 8-1 in a late-March/early-April series at Hi Corbett Field…In 2016, USC got the better of Arizona, winning two of three at home in Coach Jay Johnson's first season…Arizona last won a series at USC in 2012, taking two of three from the Trojans en route to winning the school's fourth national championship…Prior to Johnson's arrival at Arizona, USC had won six straight games in the series, sweeping Arizona in 2014 and 2015…Arizona's best player against the Trojans has been junior catcher Cesar Salazar, who is 5 for 14 against USC over his two seasons, with an on-base percentage of .526 against USC…After going 2 for 10 against USC as a freshman, Alfonso Rivas was 4 for 11 with four runs scored against USC last year…Pitching wise, Cody Deason has tossed four shutout innings against USC in his career, striking out six, and allowing just one hit…Saturday starter Michael Flynn has only thrown 1 1/3 innings against the Trojans…He gave up three hits, but no runs in one outing last season…For USC, the Trojans are led by Kaleb Murphy, who is batting .310 on the season…Blake Sabol is batting .297 with seven doubles, one home run and 12 RBI…Chase Bushor is also batting .297 on the season with five doubles…Dillon Paulson is the power threat with four home runs and 21 RBI on the season…On the mound, USC is paced by Friday night's starter, Kyle Hurt, who is 2-2 on the season with a 2.81 ERA in 41 2/3 innings…Saturday starter Solomon Bates is 2-1 with a 3.23 ERA and Sunday starter Quentin Longrie is 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA.

No Runs for You: Never before in the Pac-12 era has an Arizona team given up fewer runs through 31 games than the 2018 Wildcats. Through 31 games, Arizona has surrendered just 100 total runs, which is the second-fewest allowed since Arizona joined the Pac-10/12 in 1978. In 2008, Arizona gave up 102 total runs through 31 games, which was the previous low before this season. The fewest runs allowed by an Arizona team through 31 games came in 1974 when the Jerry Kindall-led Wildcats allowed just 65 runs through 31 games. That year, Arizona went 58-6 and won the WAC Championship. This year, Arizona has given up more than five runs in a game just three times, and has held opponents to three runs or fewer in 17 of 31 games. Arizona has allowed seven hits or fewer in 16 of 31 games to start the year, keeping the scoring opportunities at an absolute minimum.

Runs Allowed	Year
65	1974
81	1965
87	1969
91	1973
100	2018
102	2008

 

Runs Allowed	Year
100	2018
102	2008
130	2011
138	2015

 
What a Start: Arizona pitching has set the tone for the season thus far. Arizona has a staff ERA of just 2.74 so far this season, which is the seventh-best mark in the country and fourth-best among Power 5 Conference teams. Arizona has allowed just 225 hits in 270 total innings. The pitching staff is averaging 7.50 hits per nine innings, which is the 24^th best mark in the country. Wildcat pitchers have combined to strike out 227, while allowing 111 walks. Opposing batters are hitting just .230 against Arizona pitching with 56 extra-base hits in 30 games. It's been a collective effort for the Wildcats thus far with several different arms contributing to the early season success. Cody Deason, who has had the Friday night honors so far this season, has just a 2.00 ERA in 45 innings. Michael Flynn and Avery Weems have also logged 25 or more innings. Flynn is 5-1 with a 3.72 ERA. Juan Aguilera and Tylor Megill have both logged more than 15 innings this year, with both hurlers boasting a 1.45 ERA.

School	Staff ERA
Louisiana Tech	2.33
Stetson	2.41
Indiana	2.47
Stanford	2.72
UCLA	2.72
St. John's	2.73
Arizona	2.74
College of Charleston	2.75

 
Digging Deeper: Coach Dave Lawn's pitching staff has done several things very well early in the season. First, left-handed hitters are batting just .222 against Arizona pitching, combining to go 105 for 472 so far. Right-handed starters Cody Deason and Michael Flynn have been especially tough on lefties, allowing them to go just 32 for 166 for a .193 average. Another area where Arizona pitchers have excelled is with two outs. Opposing batters are just 55 for 305 (.180) with two outs against Arizona pitching. In fact, North Dakota State had just one hit with two outs in three games against the Wildcats in March. On Tuesday, Grand Canyon was 0 for 10 with two outs. With runners in scoring position, it's not much better with the opposition hitting 62 for 273 (.227) in that situation. Comparatively, Arizona's offense is hitting .346 with runners in scoring position. The Arizona pitching staff is allowing just 3.23 runs per game, 2.74 earned runs per game. The pitching staff and catchers Cesar Salazar and Ryan Haug have also allowed just five stolen bases in 18 attempts this season.
 
Arizona Pitching By the Numbers

• 2.74 – Staff ERA, 7^th best in country
• .230 -- Batting Average Against, second-best in Pac-12
• 9 – Home Runs Allowed, fewest in Pac-12
• 100 – Runs Allowed, Lowest total through 31 games since Cats joined Pac-10/12
• .180 – Batting Average Against with 2 outs
• .222 – Batting Average Against by left-handed hitting
• .227 – Batting Average Against with runners in scoring position
• 7.52 hits allowed per nine innings, 24^th best in the country

 
Power Surge: Arizona entered the late-March Nicholls State series with just four home runs on the season through 23 games. In the eight games since, Arizona has hit 12 home runs and has homered in seven straight games, hitting multiple home runs four times in that span. Against Oregon State, the Wildcats added four more home runs, getting two apiece from Nick Quintana and Cameron Cannon. Tuesday, against Grand Canyon, Quintana added two more homers. The Cats now have 16 home runs on the season. Arizona hit five home runs in the three-game sweep of Nicholls, getting two home runs from Quintana and one apiece from Cannon, Jacob Blas and Donta Williams. Cannon then hit his second of the year against the Lobos, before hitting two more against Oregon State. Quintana, who hit six last year as a freshman, has seven home runs in his last nine games after not having any in his first 22 games of the season. The home runs for Cannon, Blas and Williams were all the first of their respective careers. The Wildcats have seen their team batting average rise from .272 to .295 since beginning the three-game series against Nicholls State. Arizona enters the weekend series with USC with a .295 average after an 18-hit output Monday at New Mexico and a season-high 16 runs, and then scoring 23 runs against Oregon State over three games. The Cats were back at it Tuesday against Grand Canyon, scoring 16 runs on 15 hits.
 
Quintana, More Like Win-Tana: Sophomore third baseman Nick Quintana is enjoying the finest stretch of his Arizona career. Over his last nine games, Quintana is 19 for 35 with 20 RBI, 15 runs scored, seven home runs and four walks. Quintana has six home runs in his last seven games, including first-inning homers in his past two games. Tuesday against Grand Canyon, Quintana was 3 for 5 with two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored and a double. Since March 24, Quintana has raised his batting average from .244 to .333. He has five-straight multiple-hit games and has an on-base percentage of .595 over his last nine and a slugging percentage of 1.229. The sophomore from Las Vegas has already surpassed his six home runs from his freshman season and is now tied for second on the team with 31 RBI and after having 11 in his first 22 games.
 
The Cambino: Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon has had a strong start to his season. Cannon is hitting .355 through 31 games, having started every game at second this season. He leads the team in RBI with 34, is second on the team in doubles with nine and is second on the squad in slugging percentage at .562. Cannon, who had just 84 at-bats last season, has already surpassed his freshman season total in every offensive category this year. He's 10th in the Pac-12 in batting average, tied for third in runs scored (31), sixth in hits (43), fourth in RBI and seventh in total bases (68). The sophomore from Glendale has 11 multi-hit games on the season and eight multi-RBI contests, both of which are second on the team. Over his last 12 games, Cannon is 23 for 55 (.418) with 19 RBI, 18 runs scored, seven doubles and four home runs. He has seen his batting average rise from .300 to .355 in that span. He has six multi-hit games in that stretch. Defensively, Cannon has one error since March 6 versus San Diego State, successfully handling his last 88 of his last 89 chances.
 
All Hail, Cesar: Junior catcher Cesar Salazar is enjoying his best season as a Wildcat this year. Salazar is leading the team with a .380 batting average and is also tops in on-base percentage at .484. He's eighth in the conference in hitting and third in on-base percentage. Salazar had a 25-game on-base streak, before it was snapped in Friday night's series opener against Oregon State. He's second on the team in multiple-hit games with 11 and has six multiple-RBI games. Although he's been hot all season, Salazar has turned it up a notch recently. Known for his defense, Salazar has backed up that reputation as well. He's thrown out seven of 12 potential base stealers this season. He also threw out a runner trying to advance on a wild pitch at third base in the series opener against Washington State for the final out of the game to secure a 5-4 win.  He's committed just one error this season for a .995 fielding percentage and has also been the primary backstop for a pitching staff that has the seventh-best ERA in the country at 2.74.
 
Dominant Deason: Through seven starts, junior right-hander Cody Deason has looked a lot like a Friday night starter in the Pac-12 should look. Deason is 3-2 with a 2.00 ERA in 45 innings. He's eighth in the Pac-12 in strikeouts with 45, sixth in ERA and 10th in innings pitched. He's given up just 10 earned runs on the season and has opposing batters hitting just .187 against him. Deason got the Opening Day start against Bryant and threw seven shutout innings. He walked five, but gave up just three hits and paced the Cats in a 4-0 win. The next week, against San Diego State, Deason went just 5 1/3 innings, but battled, giving up two runs and striking out six, which matched a career high. Against Minnesota, Deason again went seven innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run, while again striking out six.  In his fourth start of the season, Deason went seven innings, allowing one earned run and striking out a career-high nine. After giving up a double in the first inning, Deason faced the minimum from innings two to seven. Against Washington State, Deason punched out 10, establishing a new career high. The junior has lefties hitting 16 for 90 against him, and batters are just 6 for 46 against him with two outs, showing he knows how to shut down an inning. He's allowed just nine extra-base hits in 45 innings.
 
He's Been Juanderful: Spanning back to last season, senior right-handed pitcher Juan Aguilera has given up just four earned runs over his last 29 1/3 innings pitched. This season, Aguilera is 4-0 with a 1.52 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. He made his first career start last month against New Mexico State and tossed six shutout innings, needing just 64 pitches to churn through one of the top offenses in the country. He then came back against Washington State and threw five scoreless innings in relief of starter Avery Weems. The senior started again on Tuesday against Grand Canyon, and went five innings, allowing just one run and picking up his fourth win of the season. Aguilera has struck out 22 and opposing batters are hitting just .256 against him. Over his final four appearances last year, Aguilera didn't give up a run over 5 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit, three walks and four strikeouts. He earned the win in Arizona's win over Delaware in the NCAA Tournament. He's been especially tough against right-handed hitters this year, forcing them to go just 11 for 57. Batters are also just 7 for 42 against him with runners on base and 1 for 24 with two outs. A product of nearby Sierra Vista, Aguilera has had a long journey to this point, spending the first two years of his college career at Cochise College.