TUCSON, Ariz. -- Having won nine of their last 11 games, the Arizona Wildcats will look to stay hot Tuesday night when they travel to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon, winners of 10 of its last 11. 

First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

Below is a full preview:

Date        Time (MST)    Location (Ballpark)        
Tue., April 10    6 p.m.    Phoenix, Ariz. (Brazell Stadium)        

TV: Cox YurView with Barry Buetel (PBP), Dan Majerle (analyst) and Kate Longworth (reporter) on the call.
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network with Brian Jeffries on the call.
Live Stats: Available through StatBroadcast.com

All-Time Series: Arizona Leads 61-22
Last Meeting: Arizona swept a pair of midweek contests in 2017

Leading Off...
•    Two teams on a hot streak will hook up for a single midweek game Tuesday night in Phoenix when the Arizona Wildcats and Grand Canyon Lopes get together. Arizona has won nine of its last 11 games, while Grand Canyon is 10-1 in its last 11.
•    Arizona is coming off a series win over No. 4 Oregon State at Hi Corbett Field. After dropping the opener, Arizona won the final two games to win the series. It secured the first regular season series victory over a top five team since the Cats swept Stanford at home in 2012.
•    Arizona enters the weekend with a staff ERA of 2.80, which is the eighth-best mark in the country. Showing how difficult it can be in the Pac-12, Arizona's 2.80 mark is fifth-best among Power 5 schools and second-best in the league.
•    Sophomore third baseman Nick Quintana is 16 for his last 30 and has five home runs in his last eight games. He has 12 RBI in that stretch. 
•    Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon is 22 for his last 49. He has 19 RBI in his last 11 games and has four home runs in his last six 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 .293 since March 18.
•    Coach Jay Johnson is 2-0 against Grand Canyon since arriving at Arizona.

Some Series Themes: Arizona and Grand Canyon will hook up for the first of two midweek contests this season on Tuesday night at Brazell Stadium in Phoenix…The Cats and Lopes will also play Tuesday, May 8 at Hi Corbett Field…Arizona topped Grand Canyon 3-2 in Tucson last year and 7-3 in Phoenix for a two-game sweep…The matchups last year were the first meetings between the two in-state schools since 2014 when Grand Canyon beat Arizona 3-1 in Tucson…Both teams enter the Tuesday matchup on a bit of a hot streak…Arizona has won nine of its last 11 games, including taking two of three last weekend from No. 4 Oregon State in Tucson…Arizona also took two of three from Washington State during the 11-game stretch and swept Nicholls State…Grand Canyon has won 10 of its last 11 games, including five in a row…The Lopes are coming off a three-game sweep of Utah Valley, surrendering just six runs over the three-game series…The Lopes, eligible for the postseason this season, are 8-1 in the WAC this year…Grand Canyon is led offensively by Ian Evans, who is batting .366 with six doubles, two home runs and 28 RBI…The Lopes have six regulars batting .300 or better, including Quin Cotton, who is batting .361 on the season with 25 RBI…Friday night starter Jake Wong leads the pitching staff with a1.89 ERA and a 5-1 record in 47 2/3 innings…Grand Canyon's staff ERA is at 5.07…Arizona is eighth in the country in ERA at 2.80…Arizona's Nick Quintana is 16 for 30 over his last eight games with five home runs, 16 RBI and 12 runs scored…Cameron Cannon has also been hot…He's 22 for 49 over his last 11 games with 19 RBI.

No Runs for You: Only once prior in the Pac-12 era has an Arizona team given up fewer runs through 30 games than the 2018 Wildcats. Through 30 games, Arizona has surrendered just 99 total runs, which is the second-fewest allowed since Arizona joined the Pac-10/12 in 1978. In 2008, Arizona gave up 96 total runs through 30 games. Since 1978, the Wildcats have given up less than 100 runs through the first 30 just once (2008) prior to this year. The fewest by an Arizona team through 30 games came in 1974 when the Jerry Kindall-led Wildcats allowed just 64 runs through 30 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 16 of 30 games. Arizona has allowed seven hits or fewer in 16 of 30 games to start the year, keeping the scoring opportunities at an absolute minimum.
Fewest Runs Allowed Through 30 Games Since 1950

Runs Allowed	Year
64	1974
80	1965
84	1969
89	1973
96	2008
99	2018

 
Fewest Runs Allowed Through 30 Games In Pac-10/12 Era

Runs Allowed	Year
96	2008
99	2018
126	2011
128	2015

 
What a Start: Arizona pitching has set the tone for the season thus far. Arizona has a staff ERA of just 2.80 so far this season, which is the eighth-best mark in the country and fifth-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.
National Team Leaders in ERA

School	Staff ERA
Louisiana Tech	2.33
Stetson	2.46
Indiana	2.53
UCLA	2.63
Missouri	2.73
College of Charleston	2.75
Texas A&M	2.79
Arizona	2.80

 
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 .221 against Arizona pitching, combining to go 101 for 457 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 295 (.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. With runners in scoring position, it's not much better with the opposition hitting 61 for 261 (.234) in that situation. Comparatively, Arizona's offense is hitting .340 with runners in scoring position. The Arizona pitching staff is allowing just 3.30 runs per game, 2.80 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

• 2.80 – Staff ERA, 8^th best in country
• .230 -- Batting Average Against, second-best in Pac-12
• 9 – Home Runs Allowed, fewest in Pac-12
• 99 – Second-best ever total through 30 games since Cats joined Pac-10/12
• .186 – Batting Average Against with 2 outs
• .221 – Batting Average Against by left-handed hitting
• .234 – Batting Average Against with runners in scoring position
• 7.50 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. The Wildcats more than doubled that number in the three-game series with the Colonels and then added another one Monday at New Mexico. Against Oregon State, the Wildcats added four more home runs, getting two apiece from Nick Quintana and Cameron Cannon. The Cats now have 14 home runs on the season with 10 coming in the last seven games. 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 five home runs in his last eight 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 have seen their team batting average rise from .272 to .293 since beginning the three-game series against Nicholls State. Arizona enters Tuesday's game with Grand Canyon with a .293 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.  
 
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 started nine straight games for Arizona and went 12 for 33 in that span for a .364 batting average. He drove in 11 in those nine games with four extra-base hits and five walks, while scoring nine runs. Blas missed the majority of the Oregon State series after a dental procedure, but entered Sunday and had an RBI groundout to tie the game in the eighth inning. Blas has hardly been the only freshman to spark Arizona's offense. Designated hitter Tate Soderstrom and Donta Williams have both seen an uptick in playing time recently and Blake Paugh had a crucial RBI single on Saturday in the win over Oregon State.
 
The Cambino: Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon has had a strong start to his season. Cannon is hitting .365 through 30 games, having started every game at second this season. He leads the team in RBI with 34, is tied for the team lead in doubles with nine and leads the squad in slugging percentage at .583. Cannon, who had just 84 at-bats last season, has already surpassed his freshman season total in every offensive category this year. He's eighth in the Pac-12 in batting average, third in runs scored (30), third in hits (42), fourth in RBI and sixth in total bases (67). The sophomore from Glendale has 11 multi-hit games on the season and eight multi-RBI contests, both of which are tied for the team lead. Over his last 11 games, Cannon is 22 for 49 (.449) with 19 RBI, 17 runs scored, seven doubles and four home runs. He has seen his batting average rise from .300 to .365 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 83 of his last 84 chances.
 
All Hail, Cesar: Junior catcher Cesar Salazar is enjoying his best season as a Wildcat this year. Salazar is tied for the team lead with a .365 batting average and is also tops in on-base percentage at .471. He's ninth in the conference in hitting and fourth 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 10 and has five 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 eighth-best ERA in the country at 2.80.
 
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.