TUCSON, Ariz. — The No. 13 Arizona Wildcats (32-13, 16-8) return home to Hi Corbett Field this weekend to host a three-game conference series against the Washington Huskies (17-24, 3-15). First pitch on Friday and Saturday is set for 6:00 p.m. MST, with Sunday's finale scheduled for 11:00 a.m. MST.

Arizona has been near untouchable at home this season, posting an overall record of 21-6 in Tucson — the Wildcats swept each of their last two home Pac-12 series against USC and Utah and haven't lost a series at home since April 2019.

The Wildcats, tied atop the Pac-12 standings, look to bolster their conference record down the final stretch of the season. They will rely on their always-dangerous offense and an up-and-coming bullpen to take on the Huskies this weekend.

For more, a complete weekend preview is below.
 

Date	Time (MST) / Result	Arizona Pitcher	Washington Pitcher
Friday, May 14	6:00 PM	RHP Chase Silseth (7-1, 4.80)	RHP Gabe Smith (4-3, 4.75)
Saturday, May 15	6:00 PM	LHP Garrett Irvin (4-1, 3.90)	LHP Tyson Guerrero (1-2, 2.70)
Sunday, May 16	11:00 AM	TBA	TBA

Leading Off...

• The Wildcats narrowly lead the all-time series with the Huskies, 34-30, with games dating back to 1992. In their latest meeting, a three-game set in Tucson in April 2019, Arizona swept the series 3-0 on final scores of 9-3, 14-2, and 7-4. The Wildcats lead the matchup 7-5 over the last five years and 14-13 over the last decade.
• Arizona has scored at least one run in 154 straight games. They have not suffered a shutout loss since falling 1-0 at Washington on March 17, 2017. Their 154-game scoring streak is the longest active scoring streak in the Pac-12.
• True freshmen Daniel Susac (12) and Jacob Berry (11) have combined for 23 home runs this year. They are the first pair of Arizona freshmen to both hit double-digit home runs in program history.
• Since closing out the 2019 season on a 10-game win streak, the Wildcats have posted a record of 52-18 (.743) and won 9-of-11 Pac-12 conference series.
• In 22 games since April 1, the Arizona bullpen has posted a sparkling 3.07 ERA, an 8-2 record, a 10.82 K/9 rate, and a .229 opponent batting average. Prior to April 1, across 23 games, the Wildcats pen posted a 5.55 ERA, a 6-5 record, a 9.97 K/9 rate, and a .265 opponent batting average.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats return home to Hi Corbett Field for a three-game conference series against the Washington Huskies...All three games will be broadcast on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM and available to view online via Arizona Live Stream...The Wildcats narrowly lead the all-time series with the Huskies, 34-30, with games dating back to 1992...In their latest meeting, a three-game set in Tucson in 2019, Arizona swept the series 3-0 on final scores of 9-3, 14-2, and 7-4...The Wildcats lead the matchup 7-5 over the past five years and 14-13 over the last decade...Arizona has swept each of their last two home series against the Huskies, and hasn't lost a series in Tucson to Washington since dropping two-of-three games in May 2015...Since the final stretch of the 2019 season, which ended on a 10-game win streak, the Wildcats have rolled to the tune of an impressive 52-18 (.743) record with 15 series victories...Over that same stretch, Arizona has won nine of their last 11 Pac-12 series...The Wildcats enter the weekend ranked in all five major national polls as a unanimous Top 15 program...Arizona is currently ranked No. 10 by Baseball America, No. 11 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 12 by the USA Today Coaches Poll and the NCBWA, and No. 13 by D1Baseball...The Wildcats are also currently No. 7 in the RPI against the fifth-toughest schedule in the country...Arizona's offense continues it's years-long trend of dominating the Pac-12 — the Wildcats currently lead the conference in runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBI, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, and extra-base hits while placing second on the circuit in home runs...Their dominance extends beyond the Pac-12; Arizona is currently fifth in the nation in scoring with an average of 8.8 runs per game while their 394 runs lead all of Division I...The Wildcats bullpen has also been a crucial part of their recent success, posting a 3.07 ERA and .229 opponent batting average over the last 22 games after opening the year with a 5.55 ERA and .265 opponent batting average over their first 23 games...Washington is led by 12th-year head coach Lindsay Meggs, who has steered the Huskies to a record of 319-293-1 during his time in Seattle...The Huskies were most recently swept by Oregon last weekend, have lost six in a row entering the weekend, and have won just one Pac-12 series this season (at UCLA)...They are currently last in the Pac-12 standings.

STREAKONOMICS: Infielder Kobe Kato leads the team with an active 13 game hit-streak, the longest of his career and the third-longest on the team this season. Over the course of his 13-game streak, Kato is hitting .480 (24x50) with 13 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, 11 RBI, eight walks, a .541 on-base percentage, and a .640 slugging percentage. The 13-game streak has raised his season batting average from .330 to .377. Catcher Daniel Susac (5 games) is the only other Wildcat with an active hit streak of five or more games. Outfielder Donta' Williams has reached base safely in 31 consecutive games, the longest on-base streak of his career and the 11th-longest streak of the StatCrew era. During his streak, dating back to March 13 versus Air Force, Williams has posted a .507 on-base percentage to go alongside a .324 (35x108) batting average, 38 runs, 29 RBI, 13 extra-base hits, 27 walks, and 14 HBP. Ryan Holgate (25 games), Kobe Kato (15 games), and Daniel Susac (15 games) all sport extended on-base streaks of their own.

THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER: The Arizona bullpen has made significant strides since the calendar turned over to April 1 — in their last 22 games since then, the Wildcats pen has gone 8-2 with a 3.07 ERA (36ERx105.2IP) while allowing opposing batters to hit just .229. In the 23 games prior to April 1, Arizona's bullpen had logged a 5.55 ERA (59ERx95.2IP) and allowed opposing batters to hit .265. Three key pieces of the Wildcats bullpen turnaround have been Quinn Flanagan, Dawson Netz, and Chandler Murphy, who have combined to make 23 relief appearances and log a 1.58 ERA since April 1. Also impressive over the last 22 games have been Vince Vannelle (9 G, 2.79 ERA, 3 SV) and Randy Abshier (9 G, 3.27 ERA).

BABY BOMBERS: True freshmen Daniel Susac (12) and Jacob Berry (11) have combined to hit 2232 home runs this year. They are the first pair of Arizona freshmen to both hit double digit home runs in a single season in program history. On top of that, Berry and Susac are the most prolific true freshman power duo in the nation this season. Just three other schools in the country (Texas Tech, Clemson, Oklahoma) have two players classified as freshmen each with 9+ home runs, but none of them consist of two first-year freshmen. Susac's eight home runs in Pac-12 play tie Shelley Duncan's conference freshman HR record set in 1999. Berry's extensive accomplishments have earned him a pair of national recognitions with selections to the midseason watch lists for the Golden Spikes Award and the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award.

CAST AWAY: Arizona's bullpen has excelled at stranding inherited baserunners this year — as a group they have combined to inherit 152 baserunners and allowed only 53 of them (34.9%) to come around and score. Two relievers — senior right-hander Preston Price and freshman southpaw Riley Cooper — have been particularly adept at leaving baserunners longing. Price has inherited 22 baserunners and only allowed three (13.6%) of them to score. Price has inherited at least one baserunner in 10-of-12 appearances this year and has been saddled with multiple inherited runners in 7-of-12 outings. Twice this season — March 5 vs. Oklahoma and March 26 vs. Oregon — Price has inherited a bases-loaded situation and did not allow a single run to score. Cooper's 25 inherited runners lead the team and only seven (28.0%) of them have scored.

MILESTONE MEN: Several Wildcats are quickly approaching or have recently reached significant career milestones:

• Donta' Williams has been hit by pitch 39 times in his career, tied for 4th most all-time in program history. He is three HBP shy of tying Brad Glenn (2006-09) for 3rd all-time.
• Donta' Williams (96) and Ryan Holgate (90) are both closing in on collecting 100 career RBI.
• Vince Vannelle has 11 career saves and is now 8th all-time on Arizona's career saves leaderboard. He is two saves shy of moving into a tie for 6th all-time with Joe Estes (1983-86) and Carlos Rico (1991-92).
• Vannelle's seven saves this year are tied for 10th most in a single season in program history. One more save would move him into a tie for 7th all-time.
• Quinn Flanagan is one win shy of 10 career wins at Arizona.

LEADOFF LEGENDS: As a team, the Wildcats have combined to reach base in nearly half of their at-bats leading off an inning. In 389 chances this year, Arizona batters have reached base 180 times (.463). In leadoff situations the offense has combined to hit .314 (99x315) with a .445 on-base percentage, 58 walks, and 25 extra-base hits. First baseman Branden Boissiere has reached base in 25-of-43 (.595) opportunities as a leadoff batter and hits .455 (15x33) in those scenarios. Second baseman Kobe Kato has reached safely as a leadoff batter 19-of-35 times (.543) and is hitting a team-best .484 (15x31) when opening an inning.

POLL POSITION: The Wildcats enter their 13th week of play ranked in all five major national polls as a consensus Top 15 program. Arizona is currently ranked No. 10 by Baseball America, No. 11 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 12 by the NCBWA and the USA Today Coaches Poll, and No. 13 by D1Baseball. 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 other Pac-12 Conference programs currently ranked in the D1Baseball poll are Oregon at No. 10, Stanford at No. 12, and UCLA at No. 23.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS: True freshmen Jacob Berry and Daniel Susac have earned lofty national recognition for their outsized contributions to the country's top offense this season. Baseball America's most recent 2021 Freshman of the Year Watch update included both Wildcats in their top 10, with Berry leading the list at No. 1 and Susac checking in at No. 10. Arizona is the only school in the nation with two players on the list, updated May 13.