TUCSON, Ariz. -- Fresh off a pair of road wins to end a four-game road trip, the Arizona Wildcats returned to Hi Corbett Field this weekend to host No. 7 UCLA for a three-game set. The series opened Thursday night with Arizona striking first. 

Junior right-hander Cody Deason tossed his first career shutout to blank the Bruins 2-0. Deason allowed just five hits and struck out 11, while issuing one walk. Nick Quintana blasted a solo home run in the fifth to give Deason the only run support he needed.

The Wildcats then secured a series victory Friday night, topping UCLA 3-1. Michael Flynn followed Deason's lead on the mound and struck out a career-high 12 over 6 2/3 dominant innings to earn his sixth win of the season. 

Arizona will now go for the sweep of the seventh-ranked Bruins on Saturday afternoon at 3:30.

All three games in the series will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. 

Below is a full preview:

Date                Time (MST)    Location (Ballpark)                           Probable Starters/Results
Thu. May 3      6 p.m.            Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)            Arizona 2, UCLA 0
Fri. May 4        7 p.m.            Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)            Arizona 3, UCLA 1
Sat. May 5       3:30 p.m.       Tucson, Ariz. (Hi Corbett Field)            RHP Ryan Garcia vs. TBA

TV: Pac-12 Networks with Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Andy Lopez (analyst) on the call
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network with Brian Jeffries on the call
Live Stats: Available through ArizonaLiveStats.com
All-Time Series: UCLA leads 128-120-1
Last Meeting: Arizona took two of three from UCLA in Los Angeles last year, winning the first two of the series

Leading Off...
•    The Arizona Wildcats return to Hi Corbett Field for four games beginning Thursday night against UCLA. The Cats just came off a four-game road trip and will take another next weekend, but first will host UCLA for three and Grand Canyon for one at Hi Corbett.
•    Arizona will honor longtime coach Andy Lopez prior to Saturday's game to celebrate his January induction into the ABCA Hall of Fame. Lopez will throw out the first pitch and be honored on the field, before broadcasting the game for the Pac-12 Networks. 
•    In six career games against UCLA, junior first baseman Alfonso Rivas is 12 for 24 against the Bruins with five extra-base hits. In three career games against UCLA, sophomore third baseman Nick Quintana went 7 for 16 against UCLA in his first series against the Bruins last year.
•    The Wildcats will enter their series with an RPI of 59. UCLA enters at No. 21 in the RPI and No. 7 in the D1 Baseball Top 25.
•    Senior pitcher Zach Stone had 17 strikeouts and zero walks in April for the Wildcats. He pitched three scoreless innings Monday at Utah Valley.
• Alfonso Rivas is batting .402 over his last 20 games and has five multi-hit games in his last seven contests.
• Freshmen shortstop Jacob Blas reached base five times in the series finale against UCLA and has 21 RBI  in 32 games this season.

Some Series Themes: A critical weekend has arrived for the Arizona Wildcats with the seventh-ranked UCLA Bruins set to come to Hi Corbett Field for a three-game series beginning Thursday…The Wildcats currently sit at No. 60 in the RPI and are looking to improve that number as the NCAA Tournament selection show approaches in four weeks…This weekend against UCLA provides Arizona with a solid chance to improve that number as the Bruins enter ranked No. 21 in the RPI with a 30-10 record…The Wildcats have had success against the Bruins in Coach Jay Johnson's first two seasons…Arizona won two of three against the Bruins in 2016 in Tucson and then took two of three last year in Los Angeles…In 2016, Arizona and UCLA split the first two games of the series and then Arizona won the finale on a dramatic walk-off hit by Bobby Dalbec to score current Wildcat Alfonso Rivas…Last year, Arizona won the first two games of the series, but blew a late lead in the finale and couldn't complete the sweep…The Wildcats do have a few hitters who have had experienced success against Bruin pitching…Rivas is 12 for 24 against UCLA in two seasons with an .833 slugging percentage…Rivas has three doubles, one triple and one home run against UCLA in his career and has started all six games against UCLA in Johnson's tenure…Fellow junior Cesar Salazar has also played in all six games against UCLA…He went just 1 for 9 against UCLA as a freshman with two RBI, but went 6 for 13 with a home run last year against UCLA…He's batting .318 in his career against UCLA after the strong series last year…Sophomore Nick Quintana was 7 for 16 against UCLA last year with one double, one triple and one home run…He had five RBI in the series and slugged .813…The Bruins enter the series this weekend as one of the hotter teams in the country…The Bruins have won 11 of their last 12 games and have won eight straight, including three straight weekend sweeps over Utah, USC and Cal Poly…Both the Utah and Coly Poly series' were on the road…Chase Strumpf leads UCLA with a .380 batting average and is tied for the team lead with nine home runs…He's second in doubles with 16 and leads the team in runs with 43…Michael Toglia is also having a standout season, batting .346 with a team-best 18 doubles and is tied with Strumpf with nine home runs…He leads the team in RBI with 43…On the mound, UCLA boasts a 2.71 ERA…In 73 2/3 innings this season, Jake Bird is 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA in 11 starts…Ryan Garcia is 5-0 with a 1.77 ErA and Zach Pettway is 7-1 with a 2.96 ERA.

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 (.355), hits (59), RBI (43), and is second in triples (three) and on-base percentage (.437). Rivas has picked it up even more so lately. In his last 20 games, Rivas is batting .402 with 21 RBI. Over his last 10, Rivas has 12 RBI and 15 hits and has five multi-hit games in his last seven contests. Rivas had three multi-hit games in four contests last week 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. He has seven multi-hit games in his last 12 games. Rivas has been a pain for left-handed pitchers, batting .400 in 70 at-bats. He's batting .426 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

 
 
Praise for Fraiz: No Wildcat enjoyed Arizona's recent four-game road trip 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 10 games, Fraizer is hitting .324 with nine RBI and six runs scored. In comparison, Fraizer was just 3 for 27 with no extra-base hits in the team's first 10 games of the season. The Fresno native is in his first year as a full-time starter for the Wildcats. He's appeared in all 42 games this year with 41 starts. On the season, Fraizer is hitting .280 with 23 runs scored, 19 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 three starts. On the season, Stone has a 2.61 ERA in 20 2/3 innings. He has a 25-3 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 Monday's 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. 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.

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 .286 in 84 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 .354 (17 for 48) 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 16 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 19 games since, Arizona has hit 20 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. The Cats now have 24 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 eight home runs after not having any in his first 22 games of the season. The Wildcats have seen their team batting average rise from .272 to .285 since beginning the three-game series against Nicholls State.
 
The Cambino: Sophomore second baseman Cameron Cannon is having a strong sophomore season for Arizona. Cannon is hitting .327 through 42 games, having started every game at second this season. He is second on the team in RBI with 39, is second on the team in doubles with 12 and is second on the squad in slugging percentage at .537. He also leads the team in walks with 27. 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 (43), 10th in RBI and 10th in total bases (87). The sophomore from Glendale has 14 multi-hit games on the season and nine multi-RBI contests. The nine multi-RBI games are second on the team to Alfonso Rivas and the 14 multi-hit games are tied with Nick Quintana for second behind 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's reached base safely in eight straight.
 
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 .336 batting average and is also second in on-base percentage at .435. 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 13 and has seven multiple-RBI games. Known for his defense, Salazar has backed up that reputation as well. He's thrown out nine of 17 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 two errors this season for a .993 fielding percentage and has also been the primary backstop for a pitching staff that has the third-best ERA in the conference at 3.50. 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.
 
Dominant Deason: Through 10 starts, junior right-hander Cody Deason has had a strong start to his junior season. Deason is 4-4 with a 2.70 ERA in 63 1/3 innings. He's sixth in the Pac-12 in strikeouts with 61, seventh in ERA, and eighth in innings pitched. He's given up just 19 earned runs on the season and has opposing batters hitting just .203 against him, which is the fifth-best mark in the conference. 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 25 for 120 against him, and batters are just 9 for 66 (.136) against him with two outs, showing he knows how to shut down an inning. He's allowed just 15 extra-base hits in 63 1/3 innings.
 
He's Been Juanderful: Spanning back to last season, senior right-handed pitcher Juan Aguilera has given up just eight earned runs over his last 42 2/3 innings pitched. This season, Aguilera is 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 38 1/3 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 has struck out 32 this season in 38 1/3 innings and opposing batters are hitting just .241 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 18 for 88 for a .205 average. Batters are also just 10 for 65 against him with runners on base and 4 for 40 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 and Utah and had two strong outings. 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. Flynn, who is 11-3 in his career, is 5-3 on the year in 50 1/3 innings. He has a 4.29 ERA and has struck out 45 batters to 21 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.  In his start against Stanford, Flynn reached 100 strikeouts for his career. He entered with 96 and is now up to 108 for his career in 118 innings. Flynn, who will start Friday this weekend, behind Cody Deason, has made 15 career starts and 32 relief appearances. Flynn got his career ERA under four with his strong starts against the Cardinal and Utes, and it now stands at 3.97.