HOUSTON, Texas -- After rolling to a midweek victory on Wednesday, the Arizona Wildcats (5-1) continue their road trip with a three-game series against the Houston Cougars (3-2).

Houston took the opening game of the series on a final score of 2-1 on Friday night. Arizona starter Randy Labaut turned in 7.1 innings of two-run work with seven strikeouts, while designated hitter Blake Paugh collected his first collegiate home run.

Game two went to Houston, 9-7, on Saturday night. The Wildcats rallied for three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth, but were unable to completely close the gap. Cameron Cannon and Tate Soderstrom both hit their first home runs of the year, while Matt Fraizer went 3-for-5. Nate Brown and Vince Vanelle both posted scoreless relief outings to keep Arizona in the game.

The series finale is set for Sunday afternoon at 12:30 PM MST.

Below is a full series preview:
 

Date	Time (MST)/Results	Wildcats Pitcher	Cougars Pitcher
Friday, Feb. 22	L, 2-1
Saturday, Feb. 23	L, 9-7
Sunday, Feb. 24	W, 9-4	RHP Bryce Collins (0-0, 4.50)	LHP Lael Lockhart Jr. (0-0, 0.00)

Leading Off...

• The Wildcats continue their first road trip of the season with a three-game series against the Houston Cougars.
• The Wildcats and Cougars have faced off just four times, with the all-time series currently tied at 2-2. Houston won the most recent matchup between the two schools, 9-3, on March 14, 2001 in Tucson.
• The Wildcats have posted double-digit run totals in each of their first five games this year - they have plated 12, 18, 19, 20, and 16 runs so far. Arizona is averaging 17 runs/game and hitting .387 (74x191) with 31 extra-base hits this season.
• Arizona was named among the nation's top teams by two separate polls this week: The Wildcats check in at No. 24 on the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 30 on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
• Outfielder Ryan Holgate was named the College Sports Madness National Player of the Week on Monday after posting three home runs and 12 RBI through his first four collegiate games last weekend.
• Arizona has gone 39-37 (.513) on the road across the last three seasons, with a 23-14 (.622) record in non-conference road contests.
• The Wildcats roster features 18 returning players and 17 newcomers. The team returns five starting position players and one starting pitcher from the 2018 squad.

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING: With a record of 5-0, the Wildcats have tied for their fifth-best start to a season during the StatCrew era (since 1998)...Arizona is one of five undefeated teams left in the Pac-12, along with Oregon State (4-0), UCLA (4-0), Arizona State (4-0), and Stanford (4-0)...Arizona is four straight wins shy of matching the next-best start since 1998 - the 2005 squad opened the year at 9-0 before losing 7-0 at UT Pan American on February 20. 

Arizona's Best Starts in StatCrew Era

YEAR	START	FINAL RECORD	FIRST LOSS
1998	16-0	33-23	10-3 at USC, Feb. 20
1999	13-0	33-23	18-9 vs. Texas A&M, Feb. 14
2017	10-0	38-21	1-0 vs. Nebraska, March 5
2005	9-0	39-21	7-0 at UT Pan American, Feb. 20
2002	5-0	31-24	7-5 vs. Utah, Feb. 3
2004	5-0	36-27-1	12-10 vs. Cal State Fullerton, Feb. 15
2015	5-0	31-24	8-5 vs. Rice, Feb. 20
2019	5-0	---	---

WALK THIS WAY: Arizona currently leads all Division I teams in the country with 58 walks...Entering Wednesday's game at Rice, the Wildcats had 10 more walks than the next closest team (North Carolina, 37)...Arizona batters have drawn nearly one mile worth of walks this year, having accrued 5,220 feet in free passes...The Wildcats single-season record for walks was 398 in 1972; the club is currently on pace for 650 walks in 2019...Outfielder Ryan Holgate catcher/utility Matthew Dyer, and infielder Jacob Blas are tied for the team lead with six walks...Currently, 13 Arizona players have logged more walks than strikeouts this year.

THAT'S OFFENSIVE: The Wildcats currently lead the Pac-12 in nearly every offensive category...Arizona paces the circuit in slugging percentage (.644), on-base percentage (.542), base hits (74), runs scored (85), RBI (75), doubles (20), home runs (7), total bases (123), and walks (58)...They also rank second on the circuit in batting average (.387) and triples (4)...In addition to strong team numbers, individual Wildcat batters appear among the conference's Top 10 players 35 times....Over the first five games of the season, Arizona is averaging 17.00 runs/game, 14.80 hits/game, 6.20 extra-base hits/game, and 11.60 walks/game...Arizona currently has four players that have started in all five games this year and are hitting over the .400 mark.

DAY ONE DINGER: Wildcats C/1B Austin Wells hit a three-run home run in his first collegiate at-bat on Friday night against UMass Lowell, becoming the first Arizona player to hit a HR in their first college AB since Jon Gaston accmplished the feat in 2006 (Feb. 3, Loyola Marymount)...Prior to Gaston, the feat was last accomplished by Nick Hundley in 2003 (Jan. 30, Brigham Young)...The last two players to hit a home run in the first series of their freshman year were Johnny Field (2011) and Joey Rickard (2010), both of which went to the same high school as Wells, Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas, Nevada.

RYAN HOL-GREAT: Wildcats outfielder Ryan Holgate leads the Pac-12 in home runs (3) and RBI (13), while ranking fourth in the conference with a .944 slugging percentage...His mammoth opening series performance earned him the honor of being named the College Sports Madness National Player of the Week...He is the first Arizona player honored by College Sports Madness since Cody Deason was named their Pac-12 Player of the Week on May 7, 2018...Holgate's 13 RBI are the most recorded by a Wildcats player in the first five games of the season since at least 1998...Twice over that stretch a Wildcats player has driven in 12 RBI over the first five games: Colin Porter in 1998 and Shelley Duncan in 2000.

GOING STREAKING: Junior outfielder Matt Frazier, junior infielder Nick Quintana, and junior infielder Cameron Cannon all currently sport active 13-game on base streaks dating back to last season...Frazier has hit .333 (16x48) with 13 runs scored, three doubles, one triple, one home run, 17 RBI, and 10 walks during his streak...Quintana has posted a batting average of .396 (19x48) with 18 runs scored, five doubles, three home runs, 13 RBI, and 13 walks over the course of his streak...Cannon has hit .460 (23x50) with 25 runs scored, 14 doubles, one home run, 12 RBI, and 13 walks across his streak...The longest on-base streak posted last year by a player returning for the 2019 season was a 17-game streak posted by infielder Jacob Blas.

DOUBLE DOWN: Arizona infielder Cameron Cannon kicked off the season with a red-hot opening series against UMass Lowell last weekend, collecting eight hits in 14 at-bats...Cannon is currently hitting .632 on the year, the second-best mark in the Pac-12 Conference...He also ranks first or tied for first in the conference in runs scored (1st, 14), doubles (1st, 7), total bases (1st, 19), slugging percentage (T-1st, 1.000), hits (1st, 12), and on-base percentage (1st, .720)...Cannon smacked a team-best 21 doubles in 56 games last season; the Arizona single-season record for doubles is 30, set by Dave Stegman in 1976 and tied by JJ Matijevic in 2017.

Arizona Single-Season Doubles Leaders

(Rank) PLAYER	DOUBLES	YEAR
T-1. Dave Stegman	30	1976
T-1. JJ Matijevic	30	2017
3. Todd Trafton	27	1986
T-4. Terry Francona	26	1980
T-4. Willie Morales	26	1993
6. Trevor Crowe	25	2005

RUN THIS WAY: The Wildcats scored 69 runs through their first four games of the year against UMass Lowell, the most the club scored in an opening series since at least 1998...Arizona has platde 85 runs through their first five contests, the most runs scored in the school's first five games sine at least 1998, with the next closest opening five-game stretch seeing 70 runs scored in 1998...Arizona's 85 runs this year are the most in the Pac-12 and 27 more than second-place Arizona State, who have scored 58 runs this year.

Most Runs For Arizona - First 5 Games (since 1998)

YEAR	RUNS	RUNS/GAME
2019	85	17.00
1998	70	14.00
2003	69	13.80
2005	67	13.40
2017	58	11.60
1999	58	11.60

NICE TO MEET YOU: Arizona had 16 players make their Wildcat debuts over the weekend series against UMass Lowell...Four players made their first appearance with Arizona, while 12 made their collegiate debuts...Making an Arizona debut: C/UTL Matthew Dyer, RHP Nate Brown, LHP Andrew Nardi, and RHP Vince Vannelle...Making collegiate debut: C Kobe Kato, INF/RHP Tony Bullard, INF/1B Dayton Dooney, C/1B Austin Wells, RHP Bryce Collins, OF Tyler Casagrande, RHP George Arias Jr., 1B Ryan Archibald, RHP Quinn Flanagan, OF Ryan Holgate, OF/1B/LHP Branden Boissiere, and LHP Randy Abshier. The newcomers position players combined to hit .364 with 32 runs scored, two doubles, two triples, six home runs, and 34 RBI...The newcomer pitchers combined to post a 3.13 ERA (8ERx23.0IP) with 27 strikeouts.

COACHING STAFF: Head coach Jay Johnson returns for his fourth season leading the Wildcats field staff...Johnson was hired on June 8, 2015 and has since led Arizona to a record of 126-67...The Wildcats reached the NCAA Tournament in each of Johnson's first two seasons, making him the first coach in school history to achieve that feat...Johnson is joined by assistant coaches Sergio Brown and Dave Lawn, and volunteer assistant coach Marc Wanaka...The 2019 season marks the fourth consecutive season for the entire staff, which ties the Wildcats with UCLA for the most stable coaching staff in the Pac-12.
WINNING WAYS: Under the guidance of head coach Jay Johnson, the Wildcats have logged 126 wins in three-plus seasons, the second-highest total in the Pac-12 since 2016 (first: Oregon State, 150)...The next closest team is Stanford, with 123 wins since 2016...During that three-year stretch, Arizona is one of only three Pac-12 programs with 100+ wins; the average wins total of the eight other schools during that period is just 81...Of the Wildcats 126 wins since 2016, 74 have come at home, 39 have been tallied on the road, and 13 have been earned at neutral sites.

AMONG THE BEST: Arizona's 2018 signing class has been tabbed among the best in the nation by multiple news outlets, ranking No. 3 according to Collegiate Baseball, No. 11 by D1Baseball.com, and No. 13 by Baseball America...The No. 3 ranking from Collegiate Baseball is the highest mark given to the program by that outlet since 1990...The 2018 class featured six players who were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft: outfielder Ryan Holgate (32nd round, Minnesota Twins), right-handed pitcher George Arias Jr. (34th round, San Diego Padres), right-handed pitcher Ian Mejia (35th round, New York Mets), catcher Austin Wells (35th round, New York Yankees), right-handed pitcher Bryce Collins (39th round, Minnesota Twins), and left-handed pitcher Andrew Nardi (39th round, Washington Nationals)...Also notable from the 2018 class is infielder/right-handed pitcher Tony Bullard, who was ranked No. 498 on Baseball America's Top 500 draft prospects list, and right-handed pitcher Nate Brown, a transfer from Florida who was a member of the Gators 2017 National Championship team.

SUMMER STANDOUTS: After highly-successful summer campaigns, head coach Jay Johnson tabbed right-handed pitcher Preston Price as Arizona's Summer Pitcher of the Year, while outfielder Justin Wylie was honored as the Wildcats Summer Player of the Year...Price pitched for the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaska Baseball League over the summer, going 3-2 with a 3.07 ERA over 41 innings of work...Wylie logged time with the Bethesda Big Train of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, hitting .414 with 12 doubles, seven home runs, and 25 RBI across 32 games...Wylie led the league in batting average and ranked third in home runs.

WHAT AN HONOR: Wildcats infielders Nick Quintana and Cameron Cannon have earned numerous preseason accolades leading into the 2019 campaign...Quintana was named a Preseason Second-Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and a Preseason Third-Team All-American by Baseball America, D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, and Collegiate Baseball...Quintana was also selected to the 2019 Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list; the Golden Spikes Award is presented annually to the nation's top amateur baseball player...Cannon earned Preseason Second-Team All-American recognition from D1Baseball.com...Also from D1Baseball.com, Quintana was listed as the No. 3 third baseman in the country, while Cannon checked in as the No. 2 ranked second baseman in the nation.

STICK WITH NICK: After logging an impressive freshman campaign in 2017, infielder Nick Quintana doubled down with an even more impressive sophomore turn in 2018...Quintana finished last season ranking among the Pac-12 conference leaders in home runs (T-6th, 14), RBI (8th, 55), total bases (T-10th, 125), and slugging percentage (11th, .592)...His 14 home runs last year were the most swatted by an Arizona underclassman since Bobby Dalbec crushed 15 in 2015...Of his 14 home runs in 2018, 10 of them came while playing at Hi Corbett Field, while all 14 came in the final 31 games of the season...His power streak continued into the summer, where he played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cap Cod Baseball League and ranked second on the team with five home runs.  

HOME SWEET HOME: The Wildcats 2019 roster features nine players who call the state of Arizona home: left-handed pitcher Gil Luna (Casa Grande), catcher/utility Matthew Dyer (Glendale), right-handed pitcher Ian Mejia (Sahuarita), outfielder Justin Wylie (Chandler), left-handed pitcher Avery Weems (Flagstaff), outfielder Blake Paugh (Scottsdale), infielder Cameron Cannon (Glendale), right-handed pitcher George Arias Jr. (Tucson), and right-handed pitcher Quinn Flanagan (Chandler)...The only state with more representation on the Wildcats roster is California, which serves as the home state for 17 players...Other home states included on the roster include Nevada (3), Hawaii (2), Wisconsin (1), Virginia (1), Ohio (1), and Maryland (1).

THE OTHER GUYS: Since head coach Jay Johnson took over for the Wildcats, the club has posted a record of 79-22 (.782) in non-conference competition...Arizona has won 20 consecutive non-conference competitions dating back to March 6, 2018, and has never lost a non-conference series since 2016...Arizona's last non-conference loss was a 3-2 decision against Michigan State on March 4, 2018...As a team in 2018, the Wildcats hit .300 with 80 extra-base hits and registered a 2.48 team ERA across a 26-game non-conference slate.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Wildcats freshman right-handed pitcher George Arias Jr. is the son of former Arizona baseball player George Arias, who played for the Wildcats in 1993...During his one season with Arizona, Arias Sr. appeared in 60 games and hit .345 with 23 home runs and 75 RBI...His 23 RBI still stand as the second-most in a single season in school history...Arias Sr. went on to play Major League Baseball with the California/Anaheim Angels and San Diego Padres...Arias Jr. is a native of Tucson, Ariz. where he attended Tucson High School, playing under head coach Oscar Romero.

NOW TO THE POLLS: In a polling of the Pac-12 baseball coaches, the Arizona Wildcats were the preseason pick to finish fourth in the conference for the 2019 season...Arizona is behind UCLA, Stanford, and 3 Oregon State, all three teams who have been ranked among the top 12 teams in the country by USA Today, D1Baseball.com, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Collegiate Baseball, and Baseball America...Arizona landed one spot above the Washington Huskies, who advanced all the way to the College World Series following the 2018 season...After opening the year with four straight convincing wins, the Wildcats have jumped into the national rankings in two polls...Arizona is ranked No. 24 in the country according to Collegiate Baseball Magazine, and No. 30 in the nation according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.