TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (9-3) return home to begin Pac-12 Conference play against the California Golden Bears (8-3) this weekend at Hi Corbett Field. The three-game series will begin on Friday, March 10 with a first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. MST.

This weekend's promotional slate is highlighted by Bark in the Park for Sunday's finale, the first of two dog days at the park scheduled for this year. The full promo schedule for the 2023 season can be found here. Tickets for the weekend can be secured by visiting ArizonaWildcats.com/BSB.

Arizona is riding a six-game win streak into the weekend, their best streak of the year. The Wildcats took the finale from West Virginia two weekends ago, swept North Dakota State at home last weekend, and have midweek victories over California Baptist and Grand Canyon during that stretch.

The Wildcats red-hot offense has averaged 11.5 runs per game over their win streak and is led by the trio of Cameron LaLiberte, Mac Bingham, and Chase Davis who lead the Pac-12 in batting average, RBI, and home runs, respectively.

For more, a complete weekend preview is below.
 

Date	Opponent	Time (MST)	Arizona Pitcher	Opponent Pitcher
Friday, March 10	California	6:00 PM	RHP TJ Nichols (2-0, 4.32)	RHP Andres Galan (0-1, 12.00)
Saturday, March 11	California	1:00 PM	LHP Bradon Zastrow (2-0, 3.38)	RHP Paulshawn Pasqualotto (1-0, 1.29)
Sunday, March 12	California	12:00 PM	RHP Aiden May (1-0, 6.92)	TBA

Leading Off...

• The Arizona Wildcats kick off Pac-12 Conference play this weekend by hosting the California Golden Bears for a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson.
• Friday marks the start of head coach Chip Hale's second turn through the Pac-12 since returning to coach his alma mater. Hale's Wildcats posted a winning record of 16-14 in conference play in 2022.
• Arizona leads the all-time series against California, 113-84, with games dating back to 1951. The Golden Bears lead the series over the last five years, 7-5, and over the last 10 years, 14-13. The Wildcats have won each of the last two series, taking both two games to one.
• Right-handed reliever Trevor Long recorded his 10th career save on Tuesday night at Grand Canyon, moving him into a tie for 10th on the Wildcats all-time saves leaderboard.
• Wildcats currently lead the Pac-12 in batting average (Cameron LaLiberte, .471), RBI (Mac Bingham, 18), and home runs (Chase Davis, 6).
• Of the Wildcats 136 hits this season, 56 have gone for extra bases — 35 doubles, five triples, and 16 home runs. Arizona currently ranks 1st in the conference in doubles and 2nd in extra base hits.
• Junior outfielder Chase Davis was unanimously selected as a Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball (2nd Team), Perfect Game (2nd Team), Baseball America (3rd Team), D1Baseball (3rd Team), and the NCBWA (3rd Team). He was also named to the Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team and the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats and California Golden Bears kick off their Pac-12 Conference schedules this weekend with a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field...Arizona finished the 2022 regular season fifth in the Pac-12 at 16-14, while California finished in seventh at 14-16...Friday marks the beginning of Arizona head coach Chip Hale's second turn through the Pac-12 since returning to lead his alma mater...The Wildcats lead the all-time series over the Golden Bears, 113-84, with games dating back to 1951...California leads the series over the last five years, 7-5, and over the last 10 years, 14-13...Arizona has won each of the last two series, taking both two games to one; the Wildcats haven't swept the Golden Bears since 2016...The Wildcats are currently riding a six-game win streak dating back to their series finale against West Virginia on Feb. 26...Over the course of the win streak, Arizona's offense has averaged 14.5 hits and 11.5 runs per game...Arizona players currently lead the Pac-12 in batting average (Cameron LaLiberte, .417), RBI (Mac Bingham, 18), and home runs (Chase Davis, 6)...Of the Wildcats 136 hits this season, 56 have gone for extra bases: 35 doubles, five triples, and 16 home runs...Arizona currently leads the conference in doubles and is tied for first on the circuit in extra-base hits...Junior outfielder Chase Davis has picked up a multitude of honors and was unanimously tabbed as a Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball (Second Team), Perfect Game (Second Team), Baseball America (Third Team), D1Baseball (Third Team), and the NCBWA (Third Team)...Davis was also picked as one of 55 players on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List...The Wildcats enter week four unranked according to D1Baseball, but are receiving votes in the NCBWA poll.

STREAKONOMICS: Infielder Kiko Romero currently leads the team with an active six-game hit streak; he has hit safely in each game of the Wildcats win streak. Over that stretch, Romero has hit .444 (12-for-27) with seven runs scored, five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBI, a .484 on-base percentage, and a .926 slugging percentage. Infielders Nik McClaughry and Kiko Romero have both reached base safely in all 12 of the Wildcats games this season, the longest active on-base streaks on the team. Outfielders Chase Davis (11 games) and Mac Bingham (10 games) also both sport extended on base streaks. Dating back to last season, Davis has now reached base safely in 26 consecutive games, the longest streak of his career.

CATS COACHES: The Wildcats are led into the 2023 season by second-year head coach Chip Hale — he was hired by Arizona Vice President and Director of Athletics Dave Heeke on July 5, 2021. Hale, the Wildcats all-time leader in games played, hits, and total bases during his time in Tucson from 1984-87, brought nearly two decades of professional coaching experience to Arizona. During his collegiate career Hale helped steer the 1986 Arizona Wildcats to their third NCAA National Championship. His professional coaching career was highlighted by a stint as the manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2015-16) and a World Series championship with the Washington Nationals in 2019. Hale is once again assisted by associate head coach Dave Lawn, in his eighth season with the Wildcats, and second-year assistant coaches Trip Couch and Toby DeMello. Lawn has made four College World Series appearances with three different Pac-12 programs, sent 24 players to the Major Leagues, and won five conference championships. Couch, one of the nation's top recruiting coordinators, joined the Wildcats in the same role after splitting the last 11 years between Houston and South Carolina. Across his decades of collegiate coaching experience, Couch has made 12 NCAA postseason appearances, developed 13 All-Americans, and directly coached 39 MLB Draft selections. DeMello, the Wildcats volunteer assistant, will continue to work with Arizona's hitters and catchers after serving in a similar role at Sacramento State, where he helped guide the Hornets to an NCAA Regional appearance in 2019. Arizona's staff is rounded out by director of baseball operations Will Gaines and director of player development Tyler Coolbaugh, both of whom are in their second seasons with the program.

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 return 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; Caulfield was close behind, having played a part in 39-of-57 twin killings. Currently the Wildcats are tied for second in the conference and tied for 12th nationally with 12 double plays turned in 12 games.

WHAT A RELIEF: Wildcats reliever Trevor Long, a multi-year member of the NCBWA's Stopper of the Year Watch List, has logged 10 career saves. He currently ranks tied for 10th on the Wildcats all-time saves leaderboard, even with Tylert Lawton (1979-82). 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 30-of-38 appearances.

NO FREE RIDES: The Arizona pitching staff has excelled at limiting walks this season, allowing an average of just 2.97 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 2.97 is the third-best mark in the Pac-12 — behind only UCLA (2.04) and California (2.94) — and down significantly from their 2019 mark of 5.33 BB/9.

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.

ALFA ROMERO: Junior outfielder 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.

EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: Through 12 games, the Arizona offense has combined to swat 56 extra-base hits, the second-best mark in the Pac-12. The Wildcats are currently averaging 4.7 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 1,919 extra-base hits (second: Stanford, 1,828). During that stretch Arizona has paced the conference in doubles six times and triples six times.

HOME SWEET HOME: Since Arizona Baseball moved to Hi Corbett Field for the 2012 season, the Wildcats have enjoyed a tremendous home field advantage. Over those 11+ seasons, Arizona has posted a record of 254-108, winning games at a .702 clip. Their home winning percentage over that stretch is the second best mark in the conference.

EXTRA EDITION: The Wildcats finished the 2022 season with 222 extra-base hits, the third-best mark in the Pac-12 behind only Oregon State (223) and Stanford (273). Of those 222 extra-base knocks, 119 (53.6%) return to the roster in 2023. Junior outfielder Chase Davis, who led the team and tied for third in the conference with 18 home runs last year, paced Wildcat returners with 32 extra-base hits last year. Arizona's 53.6% return rate on extra-base hits from last season ranks fifth-best in the Pac-12, while their raw total of 119 returning XBH ranks second.