TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Wildcats will open a brief four-game homestand this Tuesday when they welcome in the BYU Cougars for a single, midweek contest at Hi Corbett Field. It marks the first time the Cougars have visited Tucson since 2003 when the teams played a three-game series to open the season. 

Tuesday's game will be televised by Pac-12 Network with Daron Sutton and Ben Francisco on the call. 

Below is a full preview: 

Date                Time (MST)    Location (Ballpark)        
Tue. April 16    6 p.m.            Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)        

TV: Pac-12 Network with Daron Sutton (PBP) and Ben Francisco (Analyst) on the call
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network with Brian Jeffries on the call.
Live Stats: Available through ArizonaLiveStats.com

All-Time Series: Arizona leads 21-9
Last Meeting: Arizona topped BYU in Provo in 2016 in a single midweek matchup.

Leading Off...
•    BYU will make its first trip to Tucson since opening the 2003 season with a three-game series at Kindall/Sancet Field. This will mark BYU's first trip to Hi Corbett Field...In 2003, Arizona won two of the three games, outscoring BYU 52-22,
•    Arizona has won 10 of its last 12 games and has captured four straight series victories. The Wildcats took two of three from USC last weekend in Los Angeles, winning Sunday's rubber match 4-2.
•    Arizona enters the weekend with a staff ERA of 2.98, which is the 10th-best mark in the country. Showing how difficult it can be in the Pac-12, Arizona's 2.98 mark is sixth-best among Power 5 schools and third-best in the league behind UCLA and Stanford.
•    Sophomore third baseman Nick Quintana is 22 for his last 48 and has six home runs in his last 10 games. Quintana has 23 RBI in his last 12 games, with seven home runs. 
•    The Wildcats have seen their RPI improve to No. 33 after sitting at No. 113 on March 25. 
•    Arizona's team batting average has risen from .251 to .287 since March 18. Arizona is 12-3 in that span.
•    Coach Jay Johnson is 1-0 against BYU, since arriving at Arizona. The Wildcats beat the Cougars in Provo in 2016.

Some Game Themes: Arizona and BYU will meet for the first time since 2016 in a single midweek contest on Tuesday at Hi Corbett Field…In 2016, Arizona traveled to BYU for a Monday afternoon affair after a three-game series at Utah…Arizona beat BYU 11-5, behind a 135-pitch performance from starter Bobby Dalbec…Cesar Salazar was the only current Wildcat to play in that game, going 3 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI…Arizona erased an early 3-2 deficit to post the win and improve to 18-11 on the season…Overall, Arizona leads the series between the two teams, 21-9, first facing the Cougars in 1963…BYU enters the Tuesday game with a record of 18-15 and 7-8 in the West Coast Conference…The Cougars are hitting .283 as a team with an on-base percentage of .361…Brock Hale leads the team with a .354 average…He's also the team leader in doubles (13) and home runs (seven), and is boasting a .631 slugging percentage…Jarrett Perns is also having a solid season, batting .352 with seven doubles…BYU last visited Tucson in 2003 to open the season with a three-game series…BYU won the first game, 6-3, before Arizona took the final two games of the series, 17-13 and 32-3…The Wildcats went 35-23 that season, and qualified for the Fullerton Regional…The Wildcats have been dominant at home this season, compiling a 16-2 record…The team is hitting .348 at Hi Corbett Field…No Wildcat has been better at home than Cameron Cannon, who is hitting .464 with eight doubles, three home runs and 28 RBI in 18 games…Cesar Salazar is also over .400 at home, batting .429 in 17 games…Nick Quintana is hitting .391 at Hi Corbett with five home runs and 20 RBI…Juan Aguilera has been special on the mound at home, posting a 3-0 record in 18 innings with a miniscule 1.50 ERA….He's struck out 18 in 18 innings…Arizona has staff ERA of 2.67 at home, while opponents have an 8.55 ERA at Hi Corbett Field…Arizona has also hit 12 of its 17 home runs at Hi Corbett this season.

What a Start: Arizona pitching has set the tone for the season thus far. Arizona has a staff ERA of just 2.98 this season, which is the 10th-best mark in the country and sixth-best among Power 5 Conference teams. Arizona has allowed just 261 hits in 305 total innings. The pitching staff is averaging 7.70 hits per nine innings. Wildcat pitchers have combined to strike out 258, while allowing 121 walks. Opposing batters are hitting just .234 against Arizona pitching with 63 extra-base hits in 34 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 1.94 ERA in 51 innings. Michael Flynn and Avery Weems have also logged 35 or more innings. Flynn is 5-2 with a 4.70 ERA. Juan Aguilera and Tylor Megill have both logged more than 20 innings this year, with Megill boasting a 1.33 ERA and Aguilera at 1.52.
National Team Leaders in ERA

School	Staff ERA
Stetston	2.29
Indiana	2.34
Louisiana Tech	2.56
St. John's	2.60
College of Charleston	2.69
Stanford	2.75
Texas A&M	2.79
Florida	2.96
Arizona	2.98

 
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 .231 against Arizona pitching, combining to go 123 for 533 so far. Right-handed starters Cody Deason and Michael Flynn have been especially tough on lefties, allowing them to go just 38 for 184 for a .207 average. Another area where Arizona pitchers have excelled is with two outs. Opposing batters are just 63 for 338 (.186) 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 72 for 301 (.239) in that situation. Comparatively, Arizona's offense is hitting .342 with runners in scoring position. The Arizona pitching staff is allowing just 3.42 runs per game, 2.98 earned runs per game. The pitching staff and catchers Cesar Salazar and Ryan Haug have also allowed just six stolen bases in 20 attempts this season.
 
Arizona Pitching By the Numbers

• 2.98 – Staff ERA, 10^th best in country
• .234 -- Batting Average Against, third-best in Pac-12
• 10 – Home Runs Allowed, fewest in Pac-12
• 116 – Runs Allowed, Lowest total through 34 games since Cats joined Pac-10/12
• .186 – Batting Average Against with 2 outs
• .231 – Batting Average Against by left-handed hitting
• .239 – Batting Average Against with runners in scoring position
• 7.70 hits allowed per nine innings

 
Power Surge: Arizona entered the late-March Nicholls State series with just four home runs on the season through 23 games. In the 11 games since, Arizona has hit 13 home runs and homered in eight 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. Cannon hit another home run in the series opener against USC to extend the streak to eight games. The Cats now have 17 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 12 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 .287 since beginning the three-game series against Nicholls State. Arizona enters Tuesday's game with BYU with a .287 average. Included in the recent stretch: an 18-hit output 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. The Wildcats scored 14 runs in the series opener against USC, drawing 15 walks in the process.
 
Quintana, More Like Win-Tana: Sophomore third baseman Nick Quintana is enjoying the finest stretch of his Arizona career. Over his last 12 games, Quintana is 22 for 48 with 23 RBI, 17 runs scored, seven home runs and six doubles. Quintana has six home runs in his last nine games, including first-inning homers against Oregon State and Grand Canyon. Against the Antelopes,, Quintana was 3 for 5 with two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored and a double. In the opener against USC, Quintana went 3 for 6 with four RBI, three doubles and two runs scored. Since March 24, Quintana has raised his batting average from .244 to .323. He had six-straight multiple-hit games, before going 0 for 4 against the Trojans in the second game of the series on Saturday. The sophomore from Las Vegas has already surpassed his six home runs from his freshman season and is now second on the team with 35 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 .349 through 34 games, having started every game at second this season. He leads the team in RBI with 37, is second on the team in doubles with nine and is second on the squad in slugging percentage at .566. He also leads the team in walks with 23. Cannon, who had just 84 at-bats last season, has already surpassed his freshman season total in every offensive category this year. He's 11th in the Pac-12 in batting average, third in runs scored (35), seventh in hits (45), fifth in RBI and seventh in total bases (73). The sophomore from Glendale has 12 multi-hit games on the season and nine multi-RBI contests, both of which are second on the team. Over his last 15 games, Cannon is 25 for 63 (.397) with 21 RBI, 22 runs scored, seven doubles and five home runs. He has seen his batting average rise from .300 to .349 in that span. He has seven multi-hit games in that stretch. Defensively, Cannon has one error since March 6 versus San Diego State, successfully handling his last 102 of his last 103 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 .355 batting average and is also tops in on-base percentage at .464. He's 10th in the conference in hitting and fifth in on-base percentage. Salazar had a 25-game on-base streak, before it was snapped in the series opener against Oregon State. He's third on the team in multiple-hit games with 11 and has seven 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 eight of 14 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 .996 fielding percentage and has also been the primary backstop for a pitching staff that has the 10th-best ERA in the country at 2.98.
 
Dominant Deason: Through eight starts, junior right-hander Cody Deason has looked a lot like a Friday night starter in the Pac-12 should look. Deason is 4-2 with a 1.94 ERA in 51 innings. He's tied for fifth in the Pac-12 in strikeouts with 53, fourth in ERA and ninth in innings pitched. He's given up just 11 earned runs on the season and has opposing batters hitting just .197 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. Against USC, Deason picked up his second Pac-12 win of the season, going six innings, allowing just one run on six hits, while striking out eight. The junior has lefties hitting 19 for 102 against him, and batters are just 8 for 53 against him with two outs, showing he knows how to shut down an inning. He's allowed just 11 extra-base hits in 51 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.