TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (14-6, 1-2) host the No. 16 Oregon Ducks (11-4, 2-1) for a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field this weekend. All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks and broadcast on Wildcats Radio 1290.

A limited number of tickets are still available for purchase and can be secured by clicking HERE. Beginning this weekend, grab-and-go concessions will be available at Hi Corbett Field — due to this change, outside food and beverages will no longer be allowed inside the venue.

The Wildcats are coming off a 2-2 split of a four-game Los Angeles road trip that saw matchups against UCLA and Loyola Marymount. Freshman Jacob Berry impressed on the trip, finishing the four-game stretch hitting .500 with six extra-base hits, five runs scored, and seven RBI.

Oregon recently took two-of-three games from Arizona State in Eugene and beat Portland in a Tuesday midweek contest to run their record to 11-4. 

A complete weekend preview is below.
 

Date	Time (MST) / Result	Arizona Pitcher	UCLA Pitcher
Friday, March 26	7:00 PM	RHP Chase Silseth (3-0, 5.04)	LHP Robert Ahlstrom (1-1, 2.12)
Saturday, March 27	3:00 PM	LHP Garrett Irvin (0-1, 2.55)	RHP Cullen Kafka (2-0, 0.43)
Sunday, March 28	12:00 PM	RHP TJ Nichols (3-0, 4.56)	RHP Brett Walker (2-1, 3.48)

Leading Off...

• Arizona hosts their first Pac-12 Conference home series of the 2021 season as the Oregon Ducks visit Hi Corbett Field. The three-game set will be televised on Pac-12 Network with Dominic Cotroneo (PxP) and Ben Francisco (Analyst) on the call.
• The Wildcats lead the all-time series with the Ducks 26-14-1, with games dating back to 1954. In their last meeting, Arizona swept a three-game series in Tucson in 2019 on final scores of 17-6, 9-8 (11), and 28-7. The Wildcats have not lost a series to the Ducks since 2016 (1-2), and haven't lost a home series against Oregon since 2012 (1-2).
• Arizona has scored at least one run in 129 straight games. They have not suffered a shutout loss since falling 1-0 at Washington on March 17, 2018. Their 129-game scoring streak is the longest active scoring streak in the Pac-12.
• Among teams with 10+ games played, the Wildcats are currently ranked No. 1 in runs (179), No. 3 in the nation in OBP (.435), No. 9 in SLG (.491), No. 10 in AVG (.310), and No. 5 in scoring (8.9 R/G)
• Under head coach Jay Johnson, Arizona has proved difficult to beat at home for Pac-12 opponents. The Wildcats have notched a .661 conference winning percentage (39-20) at Hi Corbett Field since 2016.
• Over the last 49 games Arizona has played, dating back to 2019, the Wildcats have gone 37-12 (.755) and won nine series.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats return home to Hi Corbett Field to host their first Pac-12 Conference series of the year, a three-game series against the No. 16 Oregon Ducks (11-4, 2-1)...The Wildcats opened conference play last weekend with a trip to then-No. 11 UCLA, where they went 1-2 with a win in the second game of the series on Saturday afternoon...Arizona leads the all-time series with Oregon 26-14-1...The two programs last met in 2019 in Tucson, a three-game sweep by the Wildcats on final scores of 17-6, 9-8 (11 innings), and 28-7...Arizona has not lost a series to Oregon since 2016, when they went 1-2 in Eugene, and has not dropped a home series to the Ducks since 2012, when they went 1-2 at Hi Corbett...The Wildcats most recently split a four-game road trip to Los Angeles, where they went 1-2 at UCLA and dismantled Loyola Marymount 18-2 on Monday afternoon...Over their last 49 games, dating back to the final stretch of the 2019 season, Arizona has posted a record of 37-12 (.755) and earned nine series victories...The Wildcats are currently ranked in three of the five major national polls, checking in at No. 21 from Baseball America, No. 23 from Collegiate Baseball, and No. 25 from the NCBWA...Seven regular members of the Arizona starting lineup are currently hitting above .280, with five of them logging batting averages north of .300: Jacob Berry (.400), Branden Boissiere (.395), Ryan Holgate (.318), Kobe Kato (.308), Donta' Williams (.307), Jacob Blas (.288), and Daniel Susac (.284)...The Wildcats two back-end bullpen arms, RHPs Vince Vannelle and Preston Price, have both logged 1.35 ERAs through nine appearances; the two have combined for five saves and 37 strikeouts this year...Oregon is led by second-year head coach Mark Wasikowski, who has steered the program to a record of 19-11 in his two seasons in Eugene...Wasikowski returns to Tucson after having served as one of the Wildcats assistant coaches under Andy Lopez for 10 years from 2002-11...The Ducks have vaulted themselves into all five national polls and are currently ranked No. 16 by D1Baseball, No. 13 by Baseball America, and No. 15 by the NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, and the USA Today Coaches Poll...Oregon opened Pac-12 play with a 2-1 series win over Arizona State in Eugene, followed by a 10-1 victory over Portland on Tuesday evening.

STREAKONOMICS: The longest active hiting streaks on the team currently belong to outfielder Blake Paugh (6 games) and 3B/1B Jacob Berry (5 games). During his streak, Paugh has hit .379 (11x29) with 10 runs scored, eight extra-base hits, and nine RBI. Across Berry's last five games he has hit .450 (9x20) with seven runs scored, three doubles, one triple, three home runs, and eight RBI. The two Wildcats with the longest on-base streaks are Paugh, at nine games, and fellow outfielder Donta' Williams, at six games.

OOPS, ALL BERRYS: True freshman third baseman Jacob Berry has put together an eye-popping beginning to his collegiate career. He currently leads the team in batting average (.400), slugging percentage (.846), home runs (6), and RBI (26) while ranking second on the squad with a .512 on-base percentage. Among freshmen who have played at least 10 games so far this season, his .400 batting average ranks seventh in the nation. Additionally, his current .846 slugging percentage leads all freshmen nationwide, regardless of number of games played, and ranks No. 19 among all Division I players. Berry also stands out among his Pac-12 Conference peers, as he is currently among the top three players on the circuit in slugging percentage (1st, .846), RBI (1st, 26), total bases (1st, 55), extra-base hits (1st, 15), batting average (2nd, .400), on-base percentage (3rd, .512), runs (3rd, 22), doubles (T-3rd, 7), and home runs (T-3rd, 6). The switch-hitter has done it from both sides of the plate, too — he is currently hitting .417 as a lefty and .353 as a righty. While hitting right-handed this year, Berry has collected six hits, five of which are home runs.

RUNNING WILD: Arizona has scored at least one run in 129 straight games — they have not suffered a shutout loss since falling 1-0 at Washington on March 17, 2018. The Wildcats 129-game scoring streak is the longest active streak in the Pac-12 and 26 more games than the next closest team, UCLA (103 games). Over the course of their 129-game scoring stretch, Arizona has been held to three runs or fewer just 21 times. On the flip side, during the streak they have scored five or more runs 64 times. Arizona and UCLA are the only two programs in the Pac-12 Conference with scoring streaks longer than 50 games. UCLA was last shut out by a pitching staff coached by current Arizona associate head coach Nate Yeskie.

WHO'S THE BOSS: Arizona first baseman Branden Boissiere has done nothing but hit since arriving on campus in Tucson. Over 74 career games (59 starts), Boissiere has posted a .353 career batting average and paired it with a career .510 slugging percentage and .444 on-base percentage. Through 20 games this year he is hitting at a blistering pace, currently batting .395 (30x76) to rank third in the Pac-12 Conference. Boissiere also currently ranks second in the nation in runs (30) and paces the Pac-12 in hits (30). He also ranks among the conference's top 10 players in OBP (2nd, .515), walks (3rd, 18), RBI (T-5th, 20), home runs (T-7th, 4) and SLG (9th, .618). Boissiere has logged 10 multi-hit games this year, tied for first on the team with Ryan Holgate — he has five two-hit games, four three-hit games, and one career-high four-hit performance.

POLL POSITION: The Wildcats enter their sixth week of play ranked in three-of-five major national polls. Arizona is currently ranked No. 21 by Baseball America, No. 23 by Collegiate Baseball, and No. 25 by the NCBWA — they are unranked in the D1Baseball poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Arizona opened the season ranked by every major poll, and earned a preseason ranking from Collegiate Baseball for the fifth year in a row. The only Pac-12 Conference programs currently ranked in the D1Baseball poll are UCLA at No. 10, Oregon at No. 16, and Oregon State at No. 21.

THE YESKIE EFFECT: Since arriving in Tucson prior to the 2020 season, associate head coach Nate Yeskie has delivered results for the Wildcats pitching staff. Prior to Yeskie's arrival, Arizona's 2019 pitching staff posted a 6.21 ERA, a K/9 rate of just 7.52, and a BB/9 rate of 5.33 while allowing opposing batters to hit .287. Under the direction of coach Yeskie Wildcat pitchers have aggressively attacked the strike zone, leading to higher strikeout rates and lower walk rates, which in turn has dropped opponent batting averages and lowered the staff ERA. Particularly of note is Arizona's walk rate, which has declined every year under coach Yeskie — after walking 5.33 batters per nine innings pitching in 2019, the Wildcats dropped that rate to 4.67 in 2020 and have so far reduced the rate again to 4.44 in 2021.

CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS: In four-plus turns through Pac-12 play under head coach Jay Johnson, the Wildcats have produced three winning conference campaigns and an overall Pac-12 record of 63-61 (.208). In the 10 years prior to coach Johnson's arrival (2006-15), Arizona finished conference play with a winning record three times. In the Wildcats last full chance at Pac-12 play in 2019 they ended the year with eight straight conference wins and finished 15-14. The 2019 Wildcats averaged 9.0 runs/game and hit .317.

RUN IN THE OVEN: Branden Boissiere (30), Donta' Williams (26), and Jacob Berry (22) rank first, second, and third in the Pac-12 in runs scored, respectively. All three players also rank Top 25 among all Division I players this year, with Boissiere coming in at No. 2, Williams tied for No. 5, and Berry tied for No. 24. This dynamic run-scoring trio has combined for 78 runs this year, which is more than 108 Division I programs have scored as a team, 80 of which have played at least 10 games this year and two of which are Pac-12 programs.

NEW GUYS GOT GAME: Arizona Baseball checked in at No. 4 in D1Baseball's Newcomer Rankings released in January, giving the Wildcats the best incoming class of student-athletes on the West Coast. The prep portion of the class is highlighted by outfielder Chase Davis (No. 34), catcher Daniel Susac (No. 41), and right-handed pitcher/infielder T.J. Nichols (No. 89), three outstanding high school products who ranked among the top 100 players in last spring's Prep Baseball Report Top 500. They are joined by a trio of outstanding transfers in outfielder Tanner O'Tremba (Texas Tech), right-handed pitcher Austin Smith (Southwestern), and right-handed pitcher Chase Silseth (Southern Nevada). Four additional Arizona newcomers from the high school ranks landed among the PBR Top 500 last spring: Outfielder/right-handed pitcher Kyle Casper (No. 211), third baseman/first baseman Jacob Berry (No. 214), first baseman/left-handed pitcher TJ Curd (No. 272), and right-handed pitcher Ryan Kysar (No. 484).

ON THE OFFENSIVE: Through five weeks of play, the Wildcats offense is again showing signs of being one of the most explosive run-scoring threats in the nation. Arizona currently either leads or ranks among the top three teams in the Pac-12 in nearly every statistical category and is averaging 8.9 runs per game. There are numerous carryovers in the Wildcats lineup from the 2019 team that averaged 9.8 runs per game and five returning regular starters from the 2020 squad that all were hitting above .300 before the season was cut short. Jacob Berry (.400), Branden Boissiere (.295), and Ryan Holgate (.318) all currently rank among the top 25 players in the Pac-12 Conference in batting average.

#THEENGINE: Outfielder Donta' Williams, one of the elite defensive center fielders in college baseball and a consistent leadoff hitter, returned to the Wildcats for his fourth season in 2021. Through three-plus campaigns in Tucson, Williams has combined to hit .281 (119x424) with 126 runs scored, 20 doubles, 10 triples, four home runs, 71 RBI, and 81 walks against just 96 strikeouts. In the field, Williams has posted a career .978 fielding percentage, committing just six errors in 133 games. Following the 2019 season, during which he posted a stunning .993 fielding percentage in 56 games, Williams was selected to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team — he was the first Wildcat selected to the All-Defensive Team in two years. Williams' performance at the plate has steadily improved during his time with Arizona, leading to a breakout performance during the shortened 2020 season in which he hit .348 with 22 runs scored, five extra-base hits, 14 RBI and more walks (15) than strikeouts (8) in just 15 games.

BULLPEN BULLIES: Senior right-handers Preston Price and Vince Vannelle anchored the Wildcats bullpen in 2020 and returned to Tucson to fill the same roles in 2021. After five weeks of play the dynamic duo has combined to make 18 appearances while allowing just four earned runs. Between Price and Vannelle are five saves, a meager 17 hits allowed (14 of which are singles), just 14 walks, and 37 strikeouts. Opposing hitters have posted a .170 batting average against Price and a .180 average when facing Vannelle. Between the early returns this year and the Wildcats 15 games in 2020, Price and Vannelle have allowed just nine earned runs while striking out 68.

RYANAIR: After a promising freshman season in 2019, outfielder Ryan Holgate was in the middle of an astounding breakout campaign in 2020 before the season was cut short in mid-March. Through 15 starts last year, Holgate led the Wildcats and ranked eighth in the Pac-12 with a .377 batting average. Add to his eye-popping average 11 runs scored, seven extra-base hits, 12 RBI, a .547 slugging percentage, and a .459 on-base percentage. He is off an another hot start to the 2021 campaign, hitting .318 with 10 multi-hit performances through five weeks. The slugging outfielder was tabbed to the Perfect Game Preseason All-Pac-12 team and fingered as the No. 14 outfielder in the country in D1Baseball's preseason outfielder rankings.

CATS COACHES: Head coach Jay Johnson remains at Hi Corbett Field for his sixth season leading the Wildcats. During his time in Tucson, Johnson has steered Arizona Baseball to an impressive 177-102 (.634) overall record and a 63-61 (.508) mark in Pac-12 Conference play. The 177 wins compiled by coach Johnson and the Wildcats since 2016 are the third-most in the Pac-12 over that stretch, behind only Oregon State (200) and Stanford (181). Coach Johnson is joined by second-year associate head coach Nate Yeskie, sixth year assistant coach Dave Lawn, and sixth-year volunteer assistant coach Marc Wanaka. The Arizona coaching staff's credentials are impeccable, with coaches Johnson, Yeskie, and Lawn having combined to develop 15 conference Pitchers of the Year, 12 Players of the Year, 11 Freshmen of the Year, and four Defensive Players of the Year. That same group has combined to steer their team to 20 NCAA Regional appearances, eight NCAA Super Regional berths, and six trips to the College World Series. In addition to their unparalleled success at the collegiate level, Arizona's coaches have steered a staggering number of their players into the professional ranks. Coaches Johnson and Yeskie have combined to produce 58 Major League Baseball Draft picks, 31 of which were taken in the first ten rounds, while coach Lawn alone has developed 22 players who have gone on to make it to MLB.