TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Wildcats (6-2) will play host to the New Mexico Lobos (5-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at Hi Corbett Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM MST. This marks the beginning of an extended home stretch for the Wildcats, who will play at home for the next three plus weeks.

A complete game preview is below:
 

DATE	TIME (MST)	WILDCATS PITCHER	LOBOS PITCHER
Wednesday, Feb. 27	6:00 PM	RHP Quinn Flanagan (1-0, 2.25)	RHP Drew Gillespie (0-1, 3.60)

 

Leading Off...

• The Wildcats return home to Hi Corbett to kick off an extended home stretch with a midweek contest against the New Mexico Lobos.
• Arizona and New Mexico have played 202 times in their history, with the Wildcats currently leading the all-time series 170-32. The most recent matchup was a 16-6 victory by Arizona on April 2, 2018 at New Mexico.
• The Cats recently returned from a four-game road swing through the city of Houston, Texas. Arizona defeated the Rice Owls, 16-5, in a midweek matchup and took one-of-three games from the Houston Cougars over the weekend.
• Arizona's next victory will give head coach Jay Johnson 200 career wins as an NCAA Division I head coach. Across time with Nevada (2014-15) and Arizona, Johnson has gone 199-111 (.642).
• Infielder Cameron Cannon currently leads the Pac-12 with 16 runs scored, seven doubles, and 25 total bases. He also ranks among the conference's top players in hits (T-2nd, 15), batting average (8th, .469), slugging percentage (5th, .781), on-base percentage (9th, .564), and RBI (T-9th, 10). Cannon has hit safely in 7-of-8 games this season with five-multi hit performances.
• Arizona currently ranks second among all Division I baseball teams with 70 walks drawn. They are one behind first-place Florida A&M, and 10 ahead of third-place Eastern Kentucky.

PATH TO 200: The next victory for the Wildcats will give head coach Jay Johnson his 200th career win as an NCAA Division I head coach...Across time with Nevada (2014-15) and Arizona (2016-current) he has amassed a record of 199-111 (.642)...With a win on Wednesday, Johnson would become the second-fastest coach to tally 200 career Division I wins among the current Pac-12 head coaches (first: George Horton, 287 games)...During his first three seasons leading the Wildcats, Johnson averaged 40 wins per year...In addition to his 199 Division I wins, Johnson racked up a record of 37-16 in his one season as the head coach at Point Loma Nazarene in 2005.
 

COACH	200th WIN	GAMES TO WIN 200	WIN % AT 200
George Horton	Apr. 17, 2001	287	.697
Tracy Smith	May 23, 2004	356	.562
David Esquer	May 10, 2006	386	.518
John Savage	May 24, 2008	403	.496
Lindsey Meggs	Apr. 12, 2014	407	.491

AGAINST NEW MEXICO: Wednesday will be the 203rd all-time meeting between Arizona and New Mexico...The Wildcats currently hold a 170-32 all-time series advantage over the Lobos...Arizona won the most recent matchup between the two schools, taking a 16-6 victory at New Mexico on April 2, 2016...In that game, the Wildcats collected 18 base hits (six extra-base hits) and drew eight walks...Cameron Cannon (3x5) and Nick Quintana (3x5) combined to hit .500 with four runs scored, two doubles, four RBI, and one walk in that contest...Prior to last season, the most recent meeting between Arizona and New Mexico came in 2011, when the Wildcats swept a two-game series against the Lobos in Tucson by a combined score of 22-12...Arizona has won 15 consecutive games against New Mexico, with the Lobos most recent victory over the Wildcats coming on Feb. 18, 2006 (final score, 7-3). 

STREAKONOMICS: Dating back to the 2018 season, infielder Cameron Cannon has reached base safely in 16 consecutive games...Cannon got on base in each of his last eight games last year, and has reached base safely in every game so far this season...Over that stretch (dating back to May 13, 2018) Cannon has hit .413 (26x63) with 27 runs scored, 14 doubles, two home runs, 16 RBI, and 14 walks...Between his sophomore year in 2018 and this season, Cannon has reached base safely in 57-of-64 (89.1%) games he's played in...The next longest on-base streak on the team is currently held by freshman infielder Dayton Dooney, who has reached base in each of his last six games...Dooney's streak dates back to Feb. 16 (GM1) against UMass Lowell, and over that stretch he has hit .231 (3x13) with five walks, giving him an on-base percentage of .444 during those games.

SUPERMAN DOES GOOD, AUSTIN DOES WELLS: Freshman catcher/first baseman Austin Wells has enjoyed a spectacular start to his collegiate career...Wells has started in all of the Wildcats eight games this year, and currently ranks third on the team with a .367 batting average...He has hit safely in 6-of-8 contests this season, with three-multi-hit performances...Wells currently ranks among the Pac-12's top players in runs scored (T-6th, 11), doubles (T-3rd, 4), and RBI (T-10th, 10)...In addition to those big numbers, Wells has showed patience at the plate - he is currently tied for second on the team with six walks, and has posted a .459 on-base percentage.

KNOW YOUR FOE: New Mexico enters the midweek contest against Arizona with a record of 5-3 that includes an 11-1 victory over then-No. 24 ranked Minnesota in the Surprise Tournament...The Lobos have posted a winning record in six of their last seven seasons, and logged a stretch of six consecutive campaigns with at least 30 wins from 2012-17...Their best mark over that stretch was a 39-23 record in 2016 that included a trip to the postseason...New Mexico is led by head coach Ray Birmingham, who has led the Lobos since 2008 and entered this season with an all-time New Mexico record of 361-284-3 (.559)...The Lobos have qualified for the NCAA tournament five times under Birmingham, most recently in 2016...New Mexico pitching coach, Brandon Higelin, is in his first season with the Lobos after working at Arizona in 2018 as the Wildcats Director of Player Development.

MIDWEEK MADNESS: The Wildcats have notched 11 consecutive victories in mid-week (Mon-Wed) games, dating back to a February 27, 2018 5-4 win over New Mexico State...Arizona's last mid-week loss was a 1-0 decision dropped to Arkansas on February 21, 2018...Since Jay Johnson took over as head coach of the Wildcats in 2016, Arizona has posted a record of 26-7 (.788) in mid-week contests.

HOME COOKIN': Since 2016, the Wildcats have posted a record of 74-20 (.787) in home games at Hi Corbett Field...During that three-year stretch, Arizona has a record of 20-4-1 in home series going two or more games...The Wildcats last dropped a home series April 20-22, 2018 against Stanford (0-3)...Arizona has not lost a non-conference home series while Jay Johnson has been head coach...During Johnson's tenure, the Wildcats have combined to hit .319 (996x3122) while posting a 3.29 ERA (310x847.0) in home contests.

WALK THIS WAY: Arizona currently ranks second among all NCAA Divison I teams with 70 walks in just eight games...The Wildcats are just one walk shy of first-place Florida A&M (71 BB) and 10 ahead of the next closest team, Eastern Kentucky (60 BB)...Arizona batters have drawn over one mile worth of walks this year, having accrued 6,300 feet in free passes...The Wildcats single-season record for walks was 398 in 1972; the club is currently on pace for 490 walks in 2019...Catcher/utility Matthew Dyer and infielder Nick Quintana are tied for the team lead with seven walks...Currently, 12 Arizona players have logged more walks than strikeouts this year...The Wildcats .467 team on-base percentage is the second-best mark in the Pac-12 (first: ASU, .482) and the sixth-best mark nationally (first: New Mexico State, .554).

THAT'S OFFENSIVE: The Wildcats currently rank first or second in the Pac-12 in nearly every offenseive category...Arizona leads the conference in runs scored (102), RBI (92), doubles (23), home runs (10), total bases (155), and walks (70); they place second or tied for second on the circuit in slugging percentage (.536), on-base percentage (.467), hits (94), and triples (4)...In addition to strong team numbers, individual Wildcat batters appear among the conference's Top 10 players in the above listed stats 20 times....Over the first eight games of the season, Arizona is averaging 12.8 runs/game, 12.6 hits/game, 4.6 extra-base hits/game, and 8.8 walks/game...Arizona currently has five players that have started in all eight games this year and are hitting over the .300 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 ranks tied for second in the Pac-12 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI...His mammoth opening series performance earned him the honor of being named the College Sports Madness National Player of the Week...He was 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 from Feb. 15-20 were 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 had driven in 12 RBI over the first five games: Colin Porter in 1998 and Shelley Duncan in 2000...Holgate has hit safely in all but three games this year, with four multi-hit outings.

DOUBLE DOWN: Arizona infielder Cameron Cannon kicked off the season with a red-hot opening series against UMass Lowell, collecting eight hits in 14 at-bats with six doubles...He now has seven doubles this year...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.

NICE TO MEET YOU: Arizona had 16 players make their Wildcat debuts over their opening 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 is currently in his fourth season leading the Wildcats field staff...Johnson was hired on June 8, 2015 and has since led Arizona to a record of 127-69...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 127 wins in three-plus seasons, the second-highest total in the Pac-12 since 2016 (first: Oregon State, 154)...The next closest team is Stanford, with 125 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 127 wins since 2016, 74 have come at home, 40 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.

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).