TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Wildcats (13-13, 2-6) head north this weekend for a three-game series against the No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils (24-1, 7-1) at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. First pitch for the series finale on Sunday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. MST.

ASU won the series opener, 8-2, on Friday night. Freshmen Austin Wells and Daytony Dooney both connected on solo home runs, while Wildcats starting pitcher Randy Labaut turned in a strong performance, going 6.2 innings and striking out five.

The Wildcats got another home run from Dooney and a pair of phenomenal relief outings from Gil Luna and Vince Vannelle but still fell to the Sun Devils, 8-3, in game two of the series on Saturday night.

Arizona will look to steal a victory in the series finale on Sunday afternoon with the game set to be aired on Pac-12 Network.

A complete series preview is below.
 

Date	Time (MST)/Results	Live Stats	Wildcats Pitcher	Sun Devils Pitcher
Friday, March 29	L, 2-8
Saturday, March 30	L, 3-8
Sunday, March 31	1:05 PM	Live Stats	TBA	RHP RJ Dabovich (5-0, 2.97)

Live Stream/TV: Pac-12 Network with Daron Sutton (play-by-play) and Ben Francisco (analyst) on the call
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network with Derrick Palmer (Fri.) and Brian Jeffries (Sat./Sun.) on the call - 1290 AM KCUB | TuneIn

All-Time Series: Arizona leads 253-219-1
Last Meeting: Arizona beat Arizona State, 2-1, in a three-game series May 17-19, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.

Leading Off...

• The Wildcats will travel North up I-10 for a three-game weekend series against the in-state rival Arizona State Sun Devils.
• Arizona and Arizona State have played each other 471 times in program history, with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 253-217-1. Most recently, Arizona beat Arizona State, two game to one, in a three-game series that ran May 17-19, 2018 in Tucson.
• Under head coach Jay Johnson, the Wildcats have gone 9-5 against the Sun Devils, and have won seven of the last nine matchups against Arizona State.
• The Wildcats and Sun Devils are the two most potent offenses in the Pac-12 this year. The two programs rank first and second in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles, total bases, and walks.
• Catcher/first baseman Austin Wells and outfielder Donta Williams both have on-base streaks that have reached double digits. Wells has reached base safely in 18 games, while Williams has gotten on base in each of his last 16 games.
• Arizona has logged 62 consecutive games scoring at least one run, giving the Cats the longest active scoring streak in the Pac-12. The Wildcats were last shut out March 17, 2018 at Washington.

NOW TRENDING: The Wildcats enter this weekend having lost four straight games, however three of those losses were by only two runs and two of them were to the No 1 ranked UCLA Bruins...Arizona's pitching staff has allowed just five runs on 16 hits over their last two games...The Sun Devils won two-of-three games against the Oregon Ducks last weekend, suffering their first loss of the season on a 5-4 walk-off home run on Saturday in Eugene...Arizona and Arizona State have played each other 471 times in program history, with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 253-217-1...Most recently, Arizona beat Arizona State, two game to one, in a three-game series that ran May 17-19, 2018 in Tucson...Under head coach Jay Johnson, the Wildcats have gone 9-5 against the Sun Devils, and have won seven of the last nine matchups against Arizona State, including each of the last two three-game conference series...This series will be the second straight conference series against an opponent ranked in the top 10 nationally by D1Baseball.com...The last time Arizona played a ranked Arizona State team in a three-game series was April 11-13, 2015 when the Sun Devils were ranked No. 9...This weekend will be a clash between the top two offenses in the Pac-12; Arizona and Arizona State are the top two teams in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles, total bases, and walks.

ARIZ-ASU Offensive Rankings in Pac-12

CATEGORY	1st in Pac-12	2nd in Pac-12
Batting Average	Arizona State (.344)	Arizona (.309)
Slugging Percentage	Arizona State (.557)	Arizona (.481)
On-base Percentage	Arizona (.428)	Arizona State (.427)
Runs Scored	Arizona (231)	Arizona State (226)
Hits	Arizona State (291)	Arizona (260)
Runs Batted In	T-1st Arizona (211)	T-1st (Arizona State (211)
Doubles	Arizona (55)	Arizona State (54)
Total Bases	Arizona State (471)	Arizona (405)
Walks	Arizona (157)	Arizona State (121)

KNOW YOUR FOE: The Arizona State Sun Devils are currently ranked among the top 15 teams in the country by every major college baseball polling service: D1Baseball.com (9), Baseball America (14), National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (9), Collegiate Baseball (3), and USA Today (9)...The Sun Devils are led by fifth-year head coach Tracy Smith, who has led ASU to a 139-111 record during his time in Tempe...Offensively the Sun Devils are led by junior outfielder Hunter Bishop, who leads the team and the Pac-12 in slugging percentage (1.034), runs scored (36), hits (38), RBI (36), home runs (14), and total bases (92), while his .427 batting average ranks second on the circuit...Overall, the Arizona State offense is hitting .344 while averaging 9.8 runs per game...The Sun Devils have also found success on the mound, posting a 2.68 team ERA, the third-best mark in the Pac-12...Alec Marsh, Arizona State's Friday night starter, has posted a 6-0 record with a 0.65 ERA (3ERx41.2IP) across seven appearances (six starts) this season.

SINCE LAST TIME: Since the last set of game notes, the Wildcats dropped a 6-4 decision to the San Diego State Aztecs on Tuesday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego...Matthew Dyer went 3-for-4 with a walk in the loss, while Donta Williams (1x4, RBI, BB), Cameron Cannon (1x4, RBI), Nick Quintana (1x4, R, HR, RBI, BB), and Jacob Blas (1x3, R, RBI, 2 BB) all drove in runs...In the game against SDSU, the Wildcats used eight pitchers, seven of which posted scoreless outings and combined to hold the Aztecs to just two hits: Jonathan Guardado (1.1 IP), Gil Luna (1.0 IP), Preston Price (0.2 IP), Randy Abshier (0.1 IP), Vince Vanelle (0.2 IP), and Cameron Haskell (0.1 IP).

RUN, FOREST, RUN!: The Wildcats currently lead the Pac-12 and rank second nationally with 231 runs scored this season...Arizona's average output of 9.6 runs per game is the fourth-best mark in the country...The Wildcats have scored at least three runs in all but two games this year, and have plated 10+ runs 11 times, including once against UCLA and their pitching staff that had the best team ERA in the conference at the time...When Arizona scores more than five runs in a game this year they have posted a winning record of 13-4 (.765)...The Wildcats are currently on pace to score 539 runs this year, which would be the most in a single-season since the 1998 squad scored 546 runs...Currently, nine Arizona players have scored 10+ runs this season, while three have logged 25+ runs scored...Only one other Pac-12 program (Arizona State - 10+: 9, 25+, 3) can match this performance, and no school outside of the Arizonas has even one player with 25+ runs scored...The Wildcats have out-scored their opponents in 7-of-9 innings this season (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th) and have out-paced their opponents 231-167 overall, giving them the fourth-best run differential in the Pac-12 at +64.

STREAKONOMICS: Catcher/first baseman Austin Wells and outfielder Donta Williams both have on-base streaks that have reached double digits...Wells has reached base safely in 18 games, while Williams has gotten on base in each of his last 16 games...During Wells' streak, dating back to February 23 at Houston, he has hit .365 (23x63) with 17 runs scored, four doubles, one triple, 10 RBI, 15 walks, and a .476 on-base percentage...Over the course of Williams' streak, stretching back to February 27 against New Mexico, he has hit .345 (20x58) with 22 runs scored, five doubles, three triples, 12 RBI, 10 walks, and a .466 on-base percentage...As far as hitting streaks go, infielder Jacob Blas currently leads the team with an active five-game hit streak...During Blas' streak, going back to March 19 against New Mexico State, he is hitting .429 (6x14) with four runs scored, two RBI, and four walks.

SCHEDULE ADDITION: Arizona Wildcats baseball has scheduled an additional game to their 2019 regular season schedule, a Monday, May 13 matchup against the Sam Houston State Bearkats at Hi Corbett Field...This game was scheduled as a replacement for the Wildcats cancelled home game against Xavier on March 12, brings Arizona's regular season schedule back to 56 games, and will now serve as the final regular season home game at Hi Corbett Field in 2019...This will be the fifth matchup between the Wildcats and Bearkats in program history, with the all-time series currently even at two wins apiece...All four previous games between the two schools have come in the postseason, with Arizona winning two over Sam Houston State in the 2016 Lafayette NCAA Regional and the Bearkats taking two wins from the Wildcats in the 2017 Lubbock NCAA Regional...Sam Houston State has been selected to the NCAA Tournament and appeared in a Regional in five of the last seven seasons, and progressed to the Super Regionals in 2017...The Bearkats currently sport an RPI of 35, giving the Wildcats the opportunity to close out this year's home schedule with a quality win.

EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: The Wildcats have excelled at hitting to the gaps this year, and as a result are currently second in the Pac-12 with 90 extra-base hits on the year (first: Arizona State, 98)...The next closest team after the Wildcats is Utah, with 56...Arizona's offense has hammered out a league-leading 55 doubles and 15 triples to go with 20 home runs, which stands as the fourth-best mark on the circuit...Infielder Cameron Cannon leads the Wildcats in doubles (12), home runs (5), and extra-base hits (17) - the next closest player on the team is outfielder Donta Williams with 12 extra-base hits (7 2B, 4 3B, 1 HR)...Williams' four triples are tied for the most in the Pac-12.

BIG-TIME BLAS: Since re-joining the team, infielder Jacob Blas has made his presence felt both in the lineup and on defense...Blas has collected four multi-hit games since his return to the lineup while driving in six RBI and scoring seven runs...He has driven in at least one run in five of his last eight games...During conference play in 2018 as a freshman, Blas posted a .291 (25x86) batting average with 15 runs scored and 15 RBI while registering a .396 on-base percentage.

BULLPEN BULLY: Left-handed freshman pitcher Randy Abshier has been a steady arm out of the Wildcats bullpen this season...After allowing two runs in his collegiate debut he has strung together six straight scoreless outings, dropping his ERA to 2.00...Abshier has made seven relief appearances covering 9.0 innings of work and has allowed just six hits and two earned runs while striking out eight.

CATCH US IF YOU CAN: The Wildcats have excelled at scoring early and often in games this season...Through the first 20 games, Arizona has out-scored their opponents 39-20 in the first inning and 99-49 across the first three frames...The Cats have scored at least one run in the first inning 17 times this year and have posted multiple runs in the opening frame nine times...Arizona's season-best mark in the first inning was a 10-run outburst against UMass Lowell in the second game of the season on February 16...The Wildcats have a record of 10-7 when scoring in the first inning...Arizona as a team has posted a .376 (41x109) batting average, a .734 slugging percentage, and a .473 on-base percentage in the first inning while tallying 14 doubles, two triples, and seven of the club's 20 home runs.

ON THE BOARD: The Wildcats have scored at least one run in 62 straight games, with their last shutout loss coming all the way back on March 17, 2018 at Washington...The Cats 62-game scoring streak is the longest active streak among Pac-12 teams (next: Oregon, 32 games)...Even more impressive is the club's ability to avoid being shut out at home, with the Cats last blanking at Hi Corbett coming on April 25, 2015 against Cal - they have registered 115 straight home games without being kept off the scoreboard...During that 115 game stretch the Wildcats have been held to just one run twice, while posting 5+ runs 81 times...The Cats haven't been limited to just one run at home since May 15, 2016 against Arizona State.

Pac-12 Active Scoring Streaks

SCHOOL	SCORING STREAK	LAST SHUTOUT LOSS (Score)
Arizona	62 games	March 17, 2018 at Washington (0-1)
Oregon	32 games	May 8, 2018 vs. Oregon St. (0-10)
USC	29 games	May 18, 2018 vs. Oregon St. (0-4)
UCLA	28 games	May 24, 2018 at Oregon St. (0-2)
Arizona St.	23 games	May 26, 2018 vs. California (0-3)
Stanford	6 games	March 7, 2019 vs. Texas (0-4)
Washington St.	6 games	March 15, 2019 at Arizona St. (0-6)
Oregon St.	6 games	March 15, 2019 at UCLA (0-8)
Utah	5 games	March 16, 2019 at Arizona (0-8)
Washington	3 games	March 17, 2019 at Oregon (0-1)
California	0 games	March 26, 2019 at Sacramento State (0-6)

MR. 200: The Wildcats victory over Milwaukee on March 1 gave 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 205-120 (.631)...Johnson is the second-fastest coach to tally 200 career Division I wins among the current Pac-12 head coaches (first: George Horton, 287 games) after achieving the feat in just 312 games...During his first three seasons leading the Wildcats, Johnson averaged 40 wins per year...In addition to his 201 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.

Quickest to 200 Div. I Wins - Current Pac-12 Head Coaches

COACH	200th WIN	GAMES TO WIN 200	WIN % AT 200
George Horton	April 17, 2001	287	.697
Jay Johnson	March 1, 2019	312	.641
Tracy Smith	May 23, 2004	356	.562
David Esquer	May 10, 2006	386	.518
John Savage	May 24, 2008	403	.496
Lindsey Meggs	April 12, 2014	407	.491