Cats Continue California Swing at Sacramento State

Monday, May 14

Sacramento, CA

6:00 PM

University of Arizona

Sacramento State

Photo by: Arizona Athletics

05/10/2018 | Baseball

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By: Arizona Athletics

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Arizona Wildcats will wrap up a four-game road trip Monday night at Sacramento State with a single midweek contest against the Hornets.

The Cats played three at Cal over the weekend, and will play Sacramento State before heading back to Tucson for a three-game home series against Arizona State beginning Thursday night.

Below is a full preview:

Date         Time (MST) Location (Ballpark)             Probable Starters
Mon. May 14 6 p.m.             Sacramento, Calif. (John Smith Field)             Ty Fox vs. TBA

Live Stream: Available Through WacSports.com
Live Stats: Available through StatBroadcast.com

All-Time Series: Arizona leads 15-5
Last Meeting: Arizona swept a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field in 2016

Leading Off...
•   The Arizona Wildcats close out a four-game road trip Monday night at Sacramento State with their first meeting against the Hornets since 2016. The Wildcats swept Sac State in a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field.
•   Arizona is 6-4 in its last 10 games and has insured a winning season for the fourth year in a row and third straight under current coach Jay Johnson since his arrival at Arizona.
•   Catcher Cesar Salazar is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak with four multiple-hit games in that span. He went 3 for 5 with a career-high five RBI against Grand Canyon during the streak.
•   Sophomore shortstop Cameron Cannon had a career high three doubles Sunday at Cal. He's scored 51 runs this season, which ranks third in the Pac-12. He's tied for third in the league with 17 doubles on the season.
•   Senior pitcher Zach Stone had 17 strikeouts and zero walks in April for the Wildcats.
• Alfonso Rivas is batting .403 over his last 20 games with 22 RBI and has eight multi-hit games in his last 14 contests.
• Nick Quintana has 11 home runs, which is the most by an Arizona
underclassman since 2015.
• Cody Deason has a 2.64 ERA, which is the sixth-best mark in the Pac-12.

Some Game Themes: The Arizona Wildcats return to Berkeley for the first time since sweeping a three-game series with Cal in 2016…Behind a dominant performance from Nathan Bannister, Arizona shut out Cal in the opener 3-0, before outlasting the Bears in 13 innings the next night…The Wildcats topped Cal 7-6 in the series finale…Cal took two of three from the Wildcats last season in Tucson…Senior centerfielder Cal Stevenson has had the most personal success against the Bears…He went 4 for 8 last season with five walks, reaching base 64 percent of the time…In two seasons against the Bears, catcher Cesar Salazar is 3 for 10 with four runs scored and three walks…Friday night starter Cody Deason had a strong start against the Bears last year…Deason tossed five innings, allowing four hits and one earned run, while striking out three and not issuing any walks…Deason didn't factor into the decision…The Wildcats are 7-2 in their last nine games in Berkeley…The Cats swept a three-game series in 2012, but dropped two of three in 2014…Cal enters this year's series as one of the top offensive teams in the league…The Golden Bears are led by All-American candidate Andrew Vaughn…The sophomore first baseman is second in the country with 21 home runs…He's batting .406 with 53 RBI for the Bears…Jonah Davis is also a prolific power hitter…Davis has 13 home runs and 49 RBI for the Golden Bears…Tanner Dodson and Tyrus Greene also boast batting averages better than .300 on the season…Dodson is a two-way threat and has also logged 35 2/3 innings on the mound with 10 saves…Overall, Cal is 26-19 on the season and 18-8 at Evans Diamond on the year…Coach Mike Neu is in his first season leading Cal after taking over for current Stanford coach David Esquer…Neu was previously the head coach at Pacific…Arizona enters the series on a six-game winning streak…The Cats will play seven of their final 10 games of the season on the road, beginning with this three-game series at Cal…The Cats will stay in the Bay Area after the series with Cal and play a Monday matchup with defending WAC Tournament champions, Sacramento State…While Vaughn has had a monster season for the Bears, Arizona has also gotten a banner season from its first baseman, Alfonso Rivas…Rivas leads Arizona with a ..357 batting average and 46 RBI.

What a Weekend: Arizona had its finest weekend on the mound this season last week against No. 7 UCLA. Arizona pitchers combined to just give up four runs in 27 innings. Coach Dave Lawn's staff gave up just 19 hits and seven walks, while striking out 35 and holding UCLA batters to a .198 average. The Bruins, who entered the series on an eight-game winning streak, averaging more than 10 runs per game in that span, had just four extra-base hits on the weekend. The starters set the tone throughout the weekend for Arizona. Cody Deason tossed his first career shutout Thursday in the opener, holding UCLA to five hits, while walking just one and striking out a career-high 11. Michael Flynn was next on Friday and one-upped Deason, striking out 12. He went 6 2/3 innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks. Senior righty Juan Aguilera started on Saturday and improved to 6-0 on the season. He went 6 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits, while striking out five. Out of the bullpen, Zach Stone earned the save Friday with two shutout innings. Zach Sherman closed things out Saturday with 2 2/3 innings, giving up one run on two hits, while striking out five and not issuing any walks. The weekend lowered Arizona's staff ERA to 3.36, which is the 23^rd-best mark in the country and third-best in the Pac-12.

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 has moved 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 is living up to the preseason expectations and having a banner season as a junior. Rivas leads the team in batting average (.357), hits (65) and RBI (46). He's second in slugging percentage (.544) and on-base percentage (.437) and triples (three). Rivas has picked it up even more so lately. In his last 20 games, Rivas is batting .385 with 22 RBI. He also has 10 extra-base hits in that span, including four home runs and on-base percentage of .457. Over his last 10, Rivas has 11 RBI, 15 hits and six extra-base hits. He also has four multi-hit games in his last eight contests and a modest six-game hitting streak. Rivas had three multi-hit games in four contests on the Utah swing. He went 2 for 4 in the opener against the Utes with an RBI. He then went 0 for 4 in the Saturday game to break an 11-game hitting streak, but bounced back in a big way in the series finale. He went 2 for 4 with a pair of home runs. He drove in five and scored three times to lift Arizona to a critical 18-12 win over Utah. Then on Monday against Utah Valley, he went 2 for 4 with an RBI, a triple and a run scored. Rivas went 5 for 11 against UCLA and is now 17 for 35 against the Bruins for his career. Rivas has been a pain for left-handed pitchers, batting .397 in 73 at-bats. He's batting .407 with runners in scoring position to lead the team and has 20 two-out RBI, which also leads the squad.
Most RBI by an Arizona Underclassman Since 2000

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

Dominant Deason: Junior right-hander Cody Deason is having one of the best seasons by a Pac-12 pitcher this season for the Wildcats. Through 11 starts, Deason is 5-4 with a 2.36 ERA. In 72 1/3 innings, he's given up just 50 hits and 29 walks, while striking out 72 and holding opponents to a .197 batting average against. He's allowed just one home run on the season. Deason turned it up a notch last week against No. 7 UCLA in the series opener. Deason, who earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors along with being named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, tossed a five-hit shutout against the Bruins. He allowed just one walk and struck out a career best 11 in Arizona's 2-0 series-opening win. He allowed just one runner to reach third base and tossed Arizona's first shutout since JC Cloney blanked Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the 2016 College World Series finals. It was Arizona's first shutout of a conference opponent since blanking Cal on April 22, 2016. Deason's complete game was the first by an Arizona pitcher this year and first since Cameron Ming went all nine against Arizona State last year in Phoenix. Deason is fourth in the Pac-12 in ERA, third in opposing batting average and tied for third in strikeouts with 72. He's also seventh in innings pitched at 72 1/3. Deason has gone at least 5 1/3 innings in each start this year and has never had an ERA higher of 2.70 on the season.

Praise for Fraiz: No Wildcat enjoyed Arizona's four-game road trip to Utah more than sophomore right fielder Matt Fraizer. Fraizer went 8 for 17 on the trip with seven RBI, three extra-base hits, three runs scored and his first-career home run. The spurt helped raise his batting 28 points from .252 to .280. In the series opener at Utah, Fraizer was 1 for 4 with his first-career triple and two RBI. After another 1 for 4 game in the second game of the series, Fraizer went 4 for 5 in the series finale with two RBI and a double. It marked the first time he had four hits in a game and just the second time in his career he had more than two hits in a contest. He then went 2 for 3 against Utah Valley and blasted a three-run home run in the eighth inning with his team trailing 5-4. The homer was the first of his career. Over his last 20 games, Fraizer is hitting .300 with 12 RBI and 13 runs scored. The Fresno native is in his first year as a full-time starter for the Wildcats. He's appeared in all 45 games this year with 44 starts. On the season, Fraizer is hitting .272 with 23 runs scored, 20 RBI, eight doubles and 11 sacrifice bunts, which is second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon State's Andy Armstrong.

Stoning Hitters: Senior Zach Stone has proven to be a critical piece of the Arizona pitching staff; especially over the past month. The graduate transfer, who played at UC-Davis before transferring to Arizona, didn't appear in a game until Arizona's 13^th game of the season on March 9 against North Dakota State. His role has increased as the season has gone on, as he's also earned four starts. On the season, Stone has a 3.33 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. He has a 28 to 4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He didn't allow a walk in April, and struck out 17 in 14 innings. He's proven to be versatile as well. He's appeared at the end of games, he's drawn starting assignments and he's shined in middle relief. In a 7-6 win at Utah Valley, Stone came in the third inning and tossed three scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out on a season-high 52 pitches. His effort allowed Arizona to come back from a 5-0 deficit and earn a critical road midweek win over the Wolverines. On Friday against UCLA, Stone tossed the final two innings to earn the first save of his Arizona career. He didn't give up any hits and struck out two. Stone was an All-Big-West second-team selection in 2015, compiling 13 saves to finish second on the school's single-season list. His 22 saves at UC-Davis are the most ever by an Aggie.

Digging Deeper: Coach Dave Lawn's pitching staff has done several things very well early in the season. First, right-handed starters Cody Deason and Michael Flynn have been especially tough on lefties, allowing them to go just 51 for 247 for a .206 average. Another area where Arizona pitchers have excelled is with two outs. Opposing batters are just 102 for 478 (.213) 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. Earlier this month, Grand Canyon was 0 for 10 with two outs. The pitchers have also done a good job limiting baserunners. Opponents are just 198-818 (.242) with the bases empty. The Arizona pitching staff is allowing just 3.85 runs per game, 3.39 earned runs per game. The pitching staff and catchers Cesar Salazar and Ryan Haug have also allowed just 13 stolen bases in 30 attempts this season.

Arizona Pitching By the Numbers

3.39 – Staff ERA, 3^rd best in Pac-12
.245 -- Batting Average Against, fourth-best in Pac-12
15 – Home Runs Allowed, fewest in Pac-12
.213 – Batting Average Against with 2 outs
.243 – Batting Average Against by right-handed hitting
.260 – Batting Average Against with runners in scoring position
8.19 hits allowed per nine innings

Blas Blossoming: Jacob Blas has wasted no time in his Arizona career making an impact on the diamond for the Wildcats. Blas took over the starting shortstop role in Mid-March when the Wildcats were in Washington, and has been an offensive threat ever since, while playing stellar defense at short. On the season, Blas is hitting .279 in 86 at-bats. He has 24 hits, 21 RBI, 19 runs scored, four doubles and two home runs. Blas has been one of Arizona's best hitters with runners in scoring position, going 11 for 31 to post a .355 average. He's hitting .347 (17 for 49) with runners on base. The shortstop from Carlsbad, California has been a run-producing machine, and has primarily hit out of the nine spot. He has 18 RBI in his last 17 games, including six multi-RBI games. Against Stanford, Blas showed how clutch he is with a three-run inside-the-park home run in the eighth inning with the game tied at three apiece. He went 4 for 10 total against the Cardinal. Since taking over as a regular on March 18, Blas has seen his season batting average rise from .176 to .280. In the Sunday series finale versus Utah, Blas reached base five times. He went 3 for 4 with a pair of walks. He drove in one run and scored twice.

Power Surge: Arizona entered the late-March Nicholls State series with just four home runs on the season through 23 games. In the 23 games since, Arizona has hit 26 home runs and had an eight-game home run streak, 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. 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. Arizona then got two home runs over the weekend against Stanford with Alfonso Rivas connecting on his third of the season and Jacob Blas hitting an inside-the-park home run for his second homer of the season. Against Utah, Arizona got a home run from Cannon in the second game and then tied a season high with three long balls in the finale with Rivas hitting two and Quintana hitting one. The next night against Utah Valley, Matt Fraizer hit his first homer of the season. Rivas and Quintana each went deep against UCLA, as well. Tuesday against Grand Canyon, Quintana had a multi-home run game for the second time in two contests against the Antelopes, slugging his 10^th and 11^th home runs of the season. Cannon added his seventh of the year against Grand Canyon and catcher Cesar Salazar went deep for the first time this year and third time of his career. The Cats now have 30 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, 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 11 home runs after not having any in his first 22 games of the season.

The Cambino: Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon is having a strong sophomore season for Arizona. Cannon is hitting .326 through 46 games, having started every game this season. He started the first 42 at second base, but moved to shortstop for the UCLA series and started all three games there, and played there again against Grand Canyon. He is third on the team in RBI with 44, but just two behind leader Alfonso Rivas. He's also second on the team in doubles with 14 and is second on the squad in slugging percentage at .549 He also leads the team in walks with 29. Cannon, who had just 84 at-bats last season, has already surpassed his freshman season total in every offensive category this year. In the Pac-12 Conference, Cannon is second in runs scored (48) and ninth in RBI. The sophomore from Glendale has 15 multi-hit games on the season and 10 multi-RBI contests. The 10 multi-RBI games are second on the team to Alfonso Rivas and the 15 multi-hit games are third behind Nick Quintana and Rivas. Cannon had a pair of multi-hit games at Utah. He went 2 for 5 in the opener with a double and a run scored. In the series finale, He was 2 for 5 again with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. He had reached base in 10 straight prior to the series finale against UCLA. Against Grand Canyon, Cannon slugged his seventh home run of the season when he went deep in the second inning for a three-run homer. He had four RBI total against the Antelopes.

All Hail, Cesar: Junior catcher Cesar Salazar is enjoying his best season as a Wildcat this year. Salazar is second on the team with a .344 batting average and is tops in on-base percentage at .440. Salazar, who is on the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, had a 25-game on-base streak, before it was snapped in the series opener against Oregon State. He's fourth on the team in multiple-hit games with 14 and has eight multiple-RBI games. Known for his defense, Salazar has backed up that reputation as well. He's thrown out 10 of 21 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 three errors this season for a .991 fielding percentage and has also been the primary backstop for a pitching staff that has the third-best ERA in the conference at 3.39. Salazar missed the finale of the Stanford series after taking two foul balls off his helmet. He returned for the Utah series and went 5 for 12. Salazar went 2 for 4 in the series opener and then again in the series finale. He had a double in the finale, and then had another one Monday against Utah Valley. The double against Utah Valley started a five-run eighth inning that helped the Wildcats come back and win 7-6 after trailing 5-0. The catcher also made his first career appearance at third base against the Wolverines. He had one hit each in all three games against UCLA and then had a career night Tuesday against Grand Canyon. Salazar went 3 for 5 with a career-best five RBI and three runs scored. He hit his first home run of the season in the eighth inning. Salazar will enter the Cal series with an eight-game hitting streak, which is the longest current streak by a Wildcat.

He's Been Juanderful: Spanning back to last season, senior right-handed pitcher Juan Aguilera has given up just 10 earned runs over his last 49 innings pitched. This season, Aguilera is 6-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 44 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 against Grand Canyon, and went five innings, allowing just one run and picking up his fourth win of the season. Aguilera again drew the starting assignment against BYU on April 17, and tossed seven shutout innings on 86 pitches. He drew the starting assignment against Stanford, and went three innings, allowing just one run, while striking out five. Aguilera then went 6 1/3 innings against UCLA in the series finale, earning his first Pac-12 win of his career. He gave up two runs and struck out five. Aguilera has struck out 37 this season in 44 2/3 innings and opposing batters are hitting just .245 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 22 for 103 for a .214 average. Batters are also just 11 for 72 against him with runners on base and 4 for 45 (.088) 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.

Flynn The Day: Junior right-hander Michael Flynn has bounced back in a big way since a tough luck start against USC on April 14. Against the Trojans, Flynn went just two innings and gave up five runs. Since, he's faced Stanford, Utah and UCLA and had three strong outings, getting better each time. Against the Cardinal, Flynn went 5 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and one run, while striking out eight and walking two. His eight strikeouts tied a career high set earlier this season. He then went 6 1/3 innings at Utah to tie a career high. He gave up three runs on five hits and struck out four on 86 pitches. The junior had arguably the best outing of his career against UCLA. He went a career-high 6 2/3 innings and struck out a career-high 12. He earned the win to improve to 6-3 on the season. Flynn, who is 12-3 in his career, is 6-3 on the year in 57 innings. He has a 3.95 ERA and has struck out 57 batters to 23 walks. He's allowing batters to hit just .236 against him. The eight strikeouts against Stanford tied the mark he set earlier this season against Washington State, which stood as his career high before UCLA. Flynn, who will start Saturday this weekend, behind Cody Deason, has made 16 career starts and 32 relief appearances.