TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Wildcats will complete a stretch of 10 of 11 games at Hi Corbett Field this weekend with a three-game series against No. 4 Oregon State. The Beavers return to Tucson for the first time since being swept in 2016. 

Oregon State won the Friday night opener 6-2 on the strength of a stellar start from pitcher Bryce Fehmel. Nick Quintana and Cameron Cannon homered for the Cats in the loss. 

Arizona bounced back in a big way Saturday night, topping Oregon State 15-4. Cannon hit a home run in his third straight game and Arizona pounded out 15 hits, while right-hander Michael Flynn pitched into the sixth inning to earn his fifth win of the season. 

The rubber match in the series is set for Sunday at noon.

Below is a full preview: 

Date        Time (MST)            Location (Ballpark)        
Fri., April 6    7 p.m.               Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)        
Sat., April 7    7 p.m.              Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)        
Sun., April 8    12 p.m.           Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)        

TV: Pac-12 Network with Daron Sutton (play-by-play) 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 36-35
Last Meeting: Oregon State swept a 3-game series in Corvallis in 2017

Promotions:
Friday: Fireworks postgame and the first 400 fans receive a jersey rally towel.
Saturday: 80s Night.
Sunday: Cesar Salazar Trading Card, 50% off select concessions, postgame run the bases

Leading Off...
•    The last two Pac-12 programs to reach the College World Series, Arizona and Oregon State will face off for a three-game series this weekend at Hi Corbett Field. Oregon State advanced to Omaha last year after a dominant regular season. Arizona finished as the national runner-up in 2016.
•    The Wildcats enter the series having won five in a row and seven of their last eight. During that span, Arizona has scored at least five runs in seven of the eight games and have plated 56 runs over its last five games. 
•    Arizona enters the weekend with a staff ERA of 2.67, which is the fifth-best mark in the country. Showing how difficult it can be in the Pac-12, Arizona 's 2.67 mark is the third-best among Power 5 conferences and also third in the Pac-12 behind Stanford and UCLA. 
•    Junior catcher Cesar Salazar has reached base safely in all 25 games he's played in this season. Senior center fielder Cal Stevenson, coming off a five-hit game Monday at New Mexico, has reached base safely in 20 straight.
•    Arizona has hit six home runs in its last four games after hitting just four in the first 23 games of the season. Nick Quintana has found his power stroke with three home runs in the last five. 
•    Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon is 17 for his last 35. He has 14 RBI and 12 runs scored in his last eight games. 
•    Coach Jay Johnson is 3-3 against Oregon State since arriving at Arizona.

Some Series Themes: Arizona enters the weekend series with Oregon State with an all-time record against the Beavers of 36-35…The two teams met last season in Corvallis with the Beavers sweeping the Wildcats…Oregon State won a pair of one-run ballgames in the first two games of the series, before winning 11-7 on Sunday to complete the sweep…The last time the Beavers visited Tucson, Arizona took all three, sweeping the Beavers in early May, 2016…The Cats won 6-1 on Friday, 4-1 on Saturday and then held on 6-5 on Sunday for the sweep…It is worth noting, however, that Oregon State had won the previous four series' in Tucson prior to the 2016 sweep for the Wildcats…The Beavers enter this year's series with a 23-4 record and a 6-3 mark in Pac-12 after winning the league in convincing fashion last year…Ranked fourth in the country, Oregon State is batting .311 as a team with 92 extra-base hits and a deep and talented pitching staff that boasts an ERA of 3.28…The weekend series will feature two of the top catchers in the country in Arizona's Cesar Salazar and Oregon State's Adley Rutschman…Salazar has reached base in all 25 games he's played in this season and is the team's leading hitter at .384…He has an on-base percentage of .486 and has also been dynamic behind the plate, throwing out seven of 12 potential base stealers…Rutschman is Oregon State's top hitter at .426 with an on-base percentage of .518…Rutschman hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run in Oregon State's last game Tuesday against Nevada…Teams have been successful stealing only five times in 14 attempts against the Beavers this year.

No Runs for You: Never in the Pac-12 era has an Arizona team given up fewer runs through 27 games than the 2018 Wildcats. Through 27 games, Arizona has surrendered just 84 total runs, which is the fewest since Arizona joined the Pac-10/12 in 1978. In fact, since 1978, the Wildcats had given up less than 100 runs through the first 27 just twice (2008 and 2011) prior to this year. The 84 runs allowed are the fewest by an Arizona team since 1974 when the Jerry Kindall-led Wildcats allowed just 60 runs through 27 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 twice, and has held opponents to three runs or fewer in 16 of 26 games. In the Pac-10/12 era, the fewest runs allowed through 27 games came in 2008 when the Cats gave up 92 total runs. Arizona has allowed seven hits or fewer in 16 of 26 games to start the year, keeping the scoring opportunities at an absolute minimum.
Fewest Runs Allowed Through 27 Games Since 1950

Runs Allowed	Year
60	1974
63	1969
75	1973
78	1965
84	2018

 
Fewest Runs Allowed Through 27 Games In Pac-10/12 Era

Runs Allowed	Year
84	2018
90	1978
92	2011
98	2008
107	2015

 
What a Start: Arizona pitching has set the tone for the season thus far. Arizona has a staff ERA of just 2.67 so far this season, which is the fifth-best mark in the country and third-best among Power 5 Conference teams. Arizona has allowed just 200 hits in 243 total innings. The pitching staff is averaging 7.41 hits per nine innings, which is the 20^th best mark in the country. Wildcat pitchers have combined to strike out 206, while allowing 96 walks. Opposing batters are hitting just .228 against Arizona pitching with 44 extra-base hits in 27 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 1.62 ERA in 39 innings. Michael Flynn and Avery Weems have also logged 25 or more innings. Flynn is 4-1 with a 3.23 ERA. Juan Aguilera and Tylor Megill have both logged more than 15 innings this year, with Aguilera sporting a 1.45 ERA and Megill at 1.62.

School	Staff ERA
Stetson	2.12
Stanford	2.21
Louisiana Tech	2.26
UCLA	2.37
Arizona	2.67

 
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 .225 against Arizona pitching, combining to go 92 for 409 so far. Right-handed starters Cody Deason and Michael Flynn have been especially tough on lefties, allowing them to go just 27 for 140 for a .192 average. Another area where Arizona pitchers have excelled is with two outs. Opposing batters are just 50 for 264 (.189) 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. With runners in scoring position, it's not much better with the opposition hitting 52 for 229 (.227) in that situation. Comparatively, Arizona's offense is hitting .341 with runners in scoring position. The Arizona pitching staff is allowing just 3.11 runs per game, 2.67 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

• 2.67 – Staff ERA, 5^th best in country
• .228 -- Batting Average Against, third-best in Pac-12
• 9 – Home Runs Allowed, tied fewest in Pac-12
• 84 – Total Runs Allowed, fewest by an Arizona team since 1974
• .189 – Batting Average Against with 2 outs
• .225 – Batting Average Against by left-handed hitting
• .227 – Batting Average Against with runners in scoring position
• 7.41 hits allowed per nine innings, 20^th best in the country

 
Power Surge: Arizona entered last weekend's with Nicholls State with just four home runs on the season. The Wildcats more than doubled that number in the three-game series with the Colonels and then added another one Monday at New Mexico. Arizona hit five home runs in the three-game sweep of Nicholls, getting two home runs from Nick Quintana and one apiece from Cameron Cannon, Jacob Blas and Donta Williams. Cannon then hit his second of the year against the Lobos. Quintana, who hit six last year as a freshman, has three home runs in his last five 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. Arizona also had 10 doubles against the Colonels, which is the most the Cats have had in a series this season. The Wildcats saw their team batting average rise from .272 to .287 in the three-game series with Nicholls. Arizona enters the weekend series against Oregon State with a .293 average after an 18-hit output Monday at New Mexico and a season-high 16 runs.  
 
Freshmen Force: The Wildcats have gotten some solid contributions from their freshmen position players in recent weeks, and it has sparked an offensive uptick for Arizona. Shortstop Jacob Blas has started the last nine games for Arizona and is 12 for 33 in that span for a .364 batting average. He's driven in 11 in those nine games with four extra-base hits and five walks, while scoring nine runs. Blas has hardly been the only freshman to spark Arizona's offense. Designated hitter Tate Soderstrom is 7 for his last 19 (.368) in his last eight games played with four doubles and a triple. He's also drawn one walk in four straight games. Additionally, Donta Williams earned the start Saturday against Nicholls State and was 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI and his first career home run. He then scored two runs and had two walks Monday at New Mexico.
 
The Cambino: Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon has had a strong start to his season. Cannon is hitting .362 through 27 games, having started every game at second this season. He leads the team in RBI with 29, is tied for the team lead in doubles with eight and leads the squad in slugging percentage at .533. Cannon, who had just 84 at-bats last season, has already surpassed his freshman season total in every offensive category this year. He's ninth in the Pac-12 in batting average, sixth in runs scored (24), sixth in hits (38), fifth in RBI and seventh in total bases (56). The sophomore from Glendale has 10 multi-hit games on the season and seven multi-RBI contests, both of which are tied for the team lead. Over his last night games, Cannon is 17 for 35 (.486) with 14 RBI, 12 runs scored, four doubles and two home runs. He has seen his batting average rise from .300 to .362 in that span. He has five multi-hit games in that stretch. Defensively, Cannon hasn't committed an error since March 6 versus San Diego State, successfully handling his last 69 chances at second.
 
All Hail, Cesar: Junior catcher Cesar Salazar is enjoying his best season as a Wildcat this year. Salazar is leading the team with a .384 batting average and is also tops in on-base percentage at .486. He's fifth in the conference in hitting and sixth in on-base percentage. Salazar has reached base safely in every game he's played in this season and is enjoying a 25-game streak. He's tied for the team lead in multiple-hit games with 10 and has five multiple-RBI games. Although he's been hot all season, Salazar has turned it up a notch recently. In his last six games, Salazar has five multi-hit games and is 13 for 27 overall for a .481 clip. He has five RBI and five runs scored in that span with one double and one triple. 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 fifth-best ERA in the country at 2.67.