TUCSON, Ariz. — The red hot Arizona Wildcats (12-3, 3-0) hit the road for a three-game series against the No. 13 UCLA Bruins (12-3, 2-1) this weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. Game one on Friday night is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. MST first pitch.

Arizona enters the weekend having won nine consecutive games, including back-to-back series sweeps of North Dakota State and California. An incredible performance from first baseman Kiko Romero last week helped lead the Wildcats to their first conference opening series sweep in over a decade.

The Wildcats offense has posted eye popping numbers during the streak, averaging 11 runs per game over the last nine contests. Currently Arizona leads the Pac-12 in batting average and five other offensive categories.

For more, a complete weekend preview is below.
 

Date	Opponent	Time (MST)	Arizona Pitcher	Opponent Pitcher
Friday, March 17	#13 UCLA	6:00 PM	RHP TJ Nichols (3-0, 3.86)	TBA
Saturday, March 18	#13 UCLA	2:00 PM	LHP Bradon Zastrow (2-0, 4.05)	TBA
Sunday, March 19	#13 UCLA	1:00 PM	RHP Aiden May (2-0, 6.16)	TBA

Leading Off...

• The Arizona Wildcats and #13 UCLA Bruins meet in Los Angeles for a three-game series at Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend.
• UCLA holds a narrow edge in the all-time series between the two programs, 135-125-1. The Bruins lead the last five years of the series, 7-5, and the last 10 years, 16-11.
• Arizona last won a road series against UCLA in 2017, taking 2-of-3 games in Los Angeles. The Wildcats have not swept a road series at UCLA since 2005. The Bruins won last year's series in Tucson, 2-1, taking the opener and the finale.
• Wildcat first baseman Kiko Romero earned his first career Pac-12 Player of the Week award on Monday after hitting .647 (11x17) with eight runs, five extra-base hits, 10 RBI, and a 2.003 OPS last week as Arizona went 4-0.
• Arizona currently leads the Pac-12 with a .314 batting average and a .536 slugging percentage. The Wildcats also pace the conference in hits (172), doubles (47), extra-base hits (74), and total bases (293).
• RHP Trevor Long recorded his fourth save of the season last weekend, giving him 11 career saves and moving him into sole possession of 10th place on the program's all-time leaderboard.
• Of the Wildcats 172 hits this season, 74 have gone for extra bases — 47 doubles, seven triples, and 20 home runs. Kiko Romero leads the team and the conference with 14 XBH this year.
• Arizona's .978 fielding percentage currently ranks third in the Pac-12. The Wildcats finished 2022 ninth in the conference in fielding percentage.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats (12-3, 3-0) and No. 13 UCLA Bruins (12-3, 2-1) meet in Los Angeles for a three-game conference series at Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend...UCLA leads the all-time series between the two programs by a narrow gap, 135-125-1...The Bruins lead the series in the last five years, 7-5, and the last 10 years, 16-11...Arizona last won a road series against UCLA in 2017, taking 2-for-3 games in Los Angeles...The Wildcats have not swept a road series at UCLA since 2005...The Bruins won the most recent series between the two teams, taking 2-of-3 games in Tucson during the 2022 season; UCLA won the opener and the finale while Arizona took game two...The Wildcats 12-3 record to open the year is the program's best 15-game start to a season since the 2017 squad kicked off the year at 13-2...Arizona's sweep of California last weekend marked the team's first conference-opening series sweep since taking three from Oregon State in 2007...First baseman Kiko Romero was tabbed as the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday after helping the Wildcats to a 4-0 record last week; over four games he hit .647 (11-for-17) with eight runs, five extra-base hits, 10 RBI, and a 2.003 OPS...Arizona now has two Pac-12 weekly award winners this year after starting pitcher TJ Nichols picked up Pitcher of the Week recognition following the season's openening weekend of action...Arizona enters week five unranked according to D1Baseball but has earned a No. 21 ranking from Collegiate Baseball, while receiving votes in the NCBWA poll and USA Today Coaches Poll.

STREAKONOMICS: First baseman Kiko Romero leads the team with an active nine-game hit streak, dating back to the series finale against West Virginia on Feb. 26. Over that stretch he has logged eight multi-hit games and six multi-RBI performances. During his nine-game streak, Romero is hitting .553 (21-for-38) with 14 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 21 RBI, a .578 on-base percentage, and a 1.211 slugging percentage. Romero's longest collegiate hit streak is 12 games, achieved in the final 12 games of his junior college career at Central Arizona College. Chase Davis (7 games), Tony Bullard (5 games), and Cameron LaLiberte (5 games) also sport active hit streaks of five games or more. Romero and fellow infielder Nik McClaughry have reached base safely in all 15 of the Wildcats games this season; McClaughry has reached base in 18 straight games dating back to last season. Outfielders Davis (14 games) and Mac Bingham (13 games) also boast extended on-base streaks. Dating back to the end of the 2022 campaign, Davis has reached base safely in 28 consecutive games, the longest streak of his career.

ROMERO SELECTED AS PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Arizona Baseball first baseman Kiko Romero has been named the Pac-12 Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday. Romero is the second Wildcat to earn a weekly award from the conference after right-handed pitcher TJ Nichols took home Pitcher of the Week honors following the opening week of action. He is the first Arizona player to win Player of the Week since Mac Bingham in May 2022. Over the course of four games and a 4-0 week, Romero posted an astounding .647 batting average (11-for-17) with eight runs scored, one double, one triple, three home runs, and 10 RBI. He also drew a pair of walks for a .650 on-base percentage and slugged his way to a 2.003 OPS. He logged multiple hits and drove in at least one run in all four games, powering the Wildcats offense to a midweek win over Grand Canyon and a conference-opening sweep of California. Romero opened his week with a 2-for-6 day at the plate against Grand Canyon on Tuesday, scoring once and driving in a run in the Wildcats 12-10 win over their in-state foes. He followed it up with a career performance against California in Friday's Pac-12 opener, posting a perfect 4-for-4 day with five runs scored, a triple, two home runs, and six RBI; it was Arizona's first five-run performance since March 2021. Romero collected three hits on Saturday and two on Sunday and swatted his fifth home run of the year in the series finale to polish off a monster week at the plate. In total, Romero logged 14 plate appearances against California and reached base 11 times.

WHAT A RELIEF: Wildcats reliever Trevor Long, a multi-year member of the NCBWA's Stopper of the Year Watch List, has logged 11 career saves. He currently ranks 10th on the Wildcats all-time saves leaderboard. Should he match last year's save total of seven and tally 14 career saves, he would move into a tie for fifth all time along with Bobby Dalbec (2014-16) and Ryan Moskau (1997-98). His seven saves last season were tied for 11th most in a single season in program history and ranked tied for fifth in the Pac-12. Dating back to last season, Long has held opponents without an earned run in 32-of-40 appearances.

NO FREE RIDES: The Arizona pitching staff has excelled at limiting walks this season, allowing an average of just 2.98 BB/9. Twice this year the Wildcats have issued just one walk — Feb. 17 on opening night vs. No. 2 Tennessee and Feb. 28 vs. California Baptist. Arizona's mark of 2.98 is the second-best mark in the Pac-12 — behind only UCLA (2.225) — and down significantly from their 2019 mark of 5.33 BB/9.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Arizona finished the 2022 season having turned an astounding 57 double plays, the best mark in the Pac-12 and the fourth best mark among all 293 Division I programs. The Wildcats returned both of their middle infielders from last season: shortstop Nik McClaughry and Garen Caulfield. McClaughry led the Pac-12 last season with 189 defensive assists and played a role in 40 of Arizona's 57 double plays; he again paces the conference with 54 defensive assists this year. Caulfield was close behind, having played a part in 39-of-57 twin killings in 2022. Currently, the Wildcats are tied for first in the conference and tied for 8th nationally with 16 double plays turned in 15 games.

ALFA ROMERO: Junior Kiko Romero, a transfer from Central Arizona College, is expected to play a large role for the Wildcats in 2023 after three seasons with the Vaqueros. He returns to Tucson, where he played his high school ball, after leading Central Arizona to an NJCAA World Series Championship in 2022. As a sophomore last year he hit 366 with 95 runs scored, 22 doubles, five triples, 25 home runs, and 84 RBI. His six-home run performance, tied for a tournament record, at the NJCAA World Series earned him tournament MVP and Outstanding Hitter honors. Romero prepped at Canyon Del Oro HS in Tucson where he was a three-year letterwinner in baseball and a one-time letterwinner in golf.

FIRST ANNUAL PAC-12 PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Arizona Baseball outfielder Chase Davis, infielder Nik McClaughry, and right-handed pitchers Trevor Long and TJ Nichols all earned spots on the first-ever Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team as announced by the league in early February. The Preseason All-Conference team, in its first year in existence, is voted on by the conference's head coaches. The Wildcats four players honored is tied for the third most in the conference — Stanford leads the way with seven players on the team, followed by UCLA with six, while Arizona and Oregon are next with four each. The Pac-12 also released their annual Preseason Coaches Poll with the Wildcats selected to finish fourth in the conference standings. The top five ranked teams in the 2023 poll all competed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament — the complete 2023 Preseason Coaches Poll can be found on page three.

EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: Through 15 games, the Arizona offense has combined to swat 74 extra-base hits, the best mark in the Pac-12. The Wildcats are currently averaging 4.9 extra-base hits per game. Arizona has taken advantage of the large dimensions at Hi Corbett Field since moving there in 2012 — in the decade-plus since the move off campus the Wildcats hold the Pac-12 lead with 1,957 extra-base hits (second: Stanford, 1,850). During that stretch Arizona has paced the conference in doubles six times and triples six times.