CORVALLIS, Ore. — The No. 7 Arizona Wildcats (36-13, 19-8) face their final conference test of the year this weekend, a three-game road set against the Oregon State Beavers (32-18, 14-10). All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks and broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM.

Arizona, currently sitting in second place in the conference standings, has won seven-of-nine weekends thus far in Pac-12 play and looks to improve on their Jay Johnson-era record 19 league wins.

The Wildcats enter the high-stakes weekend on a four-game win streak after sweeping Washington and a run-rule win over New Mexico State on Tuesday. The Beavers fell 1-2 at Arizona State last weekend and dropped a midweek contest to Portland on Tuesday.

For more, a complete weekend preview is below.
 

Date	Time (MST) / Result	Arizona Pitcher	Oregon State Pitcher
Friday, May 21	6:00 PM	RHP Chase Silseth (7-1, 5.01)	RHP Kevin Abel (3-3, 3.41)
Saturday, May 22	6:00 PM	LHP Garrett Irvin (5-1, 3.51)	LHP Cooper Hjerpe (2-5, 3.92)
Sunday, May 23	12:00 PM	TBA	RHP Jake Pfennigs (4-0, 3.35)

Leading Off...

• Oregon State holds a narrow 39-38-1 edge in the all-time series between the two programs, with games dating back to 1963. In their last meeting, the Beavers swept a three-game series in Corvallis in April 2019 on final scores of 8-4, 15-3, and 9-3. Oregon State leads the series over the last five years 7-5 and over the last decade 17-10. Arizona last won a road series in Corvallis in 2012 (2-1).
• Arizona has scored at least one run in 158 straight games. They have not suffered a shutout loss since falling 1-0 at Washington on March 17, 2017. Their 158-game scoring streak is the longest active scoring streak in the Pac-12.
• Freshman catcher Daniel Susac was named one of seventeen semifinalists for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award on Thursday. Finalists for the top catching award in college baseball will be announced on June 7.
• True freshmen Daniel Susac (12) and Jacob Berry (13) have combined for 25 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 56-18 (.757) and won 10-of-12 Pac-12 conference series.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The No. 7 Arizona Wildcats face their final conference test of the year, a three-game road set against the Oregon State Beavers, this weekend in Corvallis...All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks with Rich Burk (PxP) and Bill Rowe (Analyst) on the call...The entire series will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM with Brian Jeffries on the call...Oregon State holds a narrow 39-38-1 edge in the all-time series between the two programs, with games dating back to 1963...In their last meeting, the Beavers swept a three-game series in Corvallis in April 2019 on final scores of 8-4, 15-3, and 9-3...Oregon State leads the series over the last five years 7-5 and over the last decade 17-10...Arizona last won a road series in Corvallis in 2012 (2-1)...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 56-18 (.757) record with 16 series victories...Over that same stretch, Arizona has won 10 of their last dozen Pac-12 series...The Wildcats enter the weekend ranked in all five major national polls as a unanimous Top 10 program...Arizona is currently ranked No. 7 by D1Baseball, No. 8 by the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball, No. 9 by Baseball America, and No. 10 by the USA Today Coaches Poll...The Wildcats are also currently No. 6 in the RPI against the 13th-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 third in the nation in scoring with an average of 9.0 runs per game while their 440 runs lead all of Division I...Freshman catcher Daniel Susac was named one of seventeen semifinalists for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award on Thursday. Finalists for the top catching award in college baseball will be announced on June 7...Oregon State is led by second-year head coach Mitch Canham, who has steered the Beavers to an overall record of 37-27 during his time in Corvallis.

STREAKONOMICS: Freshman catcher Daniel Susac currently sports a nine-game hit streak, the longest active streak on the team. Over the course of his streak, Susac is hitting .487 (19x39) with 10 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, three home runs, 15 RBI, one walk, a .524 on-base percentage, and a .897 slugging percentage. It is the longest hit streak of Susac's career and it has raised his season batting average from .331 to .364. Outfielder Donta' Williams has reached base safely in 35 consecutive games, the longest on-base streak of his career and the 7th-longest streak of the StatCrew era. During his streak, dating back to March 13 versus Air Force, Williams has posted a .533 on-base percentage to go alongside a .355 (43x121) batting average, 47 runs, 29 RBI, 16 extra-base hits, 33 walks, and 14 HBP. Ryan Holgate (29 games), Daniel Susac (19 games), and Tony Bullard (13 games) also currently sport extended on-base streaks.

BABY BOMBERS: True freshmen Daniel Susac (12) and Jacob Berry (13) have combined to hit 25 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 two other schools in the country (Texas Tech, Oklahoma) have two players classified as freshmen each with 10+ home runs, but neither 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 is one behind in conference play with seven. Their extensive accomplishments have earned them extensive national recognition with Berry earning selections to the midseason watch lists for the Golden Spikes Award and the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award and Susac earning a semifinalist spot for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award.

CAST AWAY: Arizona's bullpen has excelled at stranding inherited baserunners this year — as a group they have combined to inherit 166 baserunners and allowed only 57 of them (34.3%) 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 27 inherited runners lead the team and only seven (25.9%) of them have scored.

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

• C, DANIEL SUSAC
  • 11 doubles (Pac-12 play): Arizona freshman conference record (previously: 10, Damon Mashore, 1989)
  • 20 extra-base hits (Pac-12 play): Arizona freshman conference record (previously: 17 - Damon Mashore, 1989; Austin Wells, 2019)
  • 78 total bases (Pac-12 play): Arizona freshman conference record (previously: 72, Damon Mashore, 1989)
  • Eight home runs (Pac-12 play): Tied for Arizona freshman conference record (also: Shelley Duncan, 1999)
  • 34 RBI (Pac-12 play): Tied for Arizona freshman conference record (also: Austin Wells, 2019)
  • 43 base hits (Pac-12 play) Tied for Arizona freshman conference record (also: Damon Mashore, 1989)
• OF, DONTA' WILLIAMS
  • 39 career hit by pitch: Tied for 4th most all-time in program history. Three HBP shy of tying Brad Glenn (2006-09) for 3rd all-time
• RHP, VINCE VANNELLE
  • 11 career saves: 8th all-time on Arizona's career saves leaderboard. Two saves shy of moving into a tie for 6th all-time with Joe Estes (1983-86) and Carlos Rico (1991-92)
  • Seven saves in 2021: Tied for 10th most in a single season in program history. One more save would move him into a tie for 7th all-time
• LHP, RILEY COOPER
  • 15 appearances in 2021: Arizona freshman conference record (previously: 14 - Nick Cunningham, 2010; Gil Luna, 2018)

POLL POSITION: The Wildcats enter their 13th week of play ranked in all five major national polls as a consensus Top 10 program. Arizona is currently ranked No. 7 by D1Baseball, No. 8 by the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball, No. 9 by Baseball America, and No. 10 by 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 other Pac-12 Conference programs currently ranked in the D1Baseball poll are Oregon at No. 6, Stanford at No. 15, UCLA at No. 18, and Arizona State at No. 25.