TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (30-23, 12-18) kick off play at the 2023 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament on Tuesday morning with a matchup against in-state rival Arizona State (31-22, 16-13). First pitch is slated for 10:00 a.m. MST.

All games through the semifinals at the tournament will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Additionally, all Arizona contests will be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM with play-by-play from Brian Jeffries.

The Wildcats took 2-of-3 games from the visiting USC Trojans last weekend at Hi Corbett Field to secure their spot in the tournament, where they will be the No. 8 seed.

The Pac-12 Tournament changed formats this year, opting for pod play the first three days with semifinals scheduled for Friday, May 26 and the championship game slated for Saturday, May 27. After every team has played two games the three pod winners, along with one wild card, will advance to the semifinal round.

For more, a complete game preview is below.
 

Date	Opponent	Time (MST)	Arizona Pitcher	Opponent Pitcher
Tuesday, May 23	Arizona State	10:00 AM	RHP Aiden May (4-2, 7.12)	RHP Josh Hansell (2-0, 6.52)

Leading Off...

• The Wildcats kick off the 2023 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament with a Tuesday morning game against in-state rival Arizona State. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks with Daron Sutton (PxP) and Ben Francisco (Analyst) on the call.
• All games at the Pac-12 Tournament will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM with play-by-play from Brian Jeffries.
• Arizona and Arizona State have faced each other 488 times in program history, with games dating back to 1907. The Wildcats hold a 260-227-1 edge in the all-time series.
• The Sun Devils swept the three-game conference series in Phoenix this year, while the Wildcats earned a 20-0 victory in the non-conference midweek matchup.
• Outfielder Chase Davis hit his 19th home run of the season on Saturday against USC, giving him 37 career home runs. He is currently third on the Arizona career HR leaderboard and six shy of second place. His 19 homers this year are sixth-most in a single season in program history.
• Infielder Kiko Romero currently leads the Pac-12 and ranks fifth nationally with 80 RBI. His mark is tied as the sixth-best single-season mark in program history and is six RBI shy of the single-season record of 86 (Shelley Duncan, 2001).
• Arizona's lineup has combined to produce 84 home runs this year, the third most in a season in program history. The Wildcats are three HR away from second place (87, 1998). The Wildcats have five players with 10+ home runs for the first time since 1993.

SOME TOURNAMENT THEMES: Arizona enters the 2023 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament as the No. 8 seed, sharing a pod with No. 2 Oregon State and No. 5 Arizona State...The Wildcats went 1-3 against Arizona State and 0-3 against Oregon State during the regular season...Arizona played four games, winning two, at the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament last year...The Wildcats played the opening game of the 2022 tournament as well, and went into the history books with the first ever win, hit (Chase Davis, 2nd inning double), and home run (Garen Caulfield, 2nd inning) in tournament history...Arizona and Arizona State squared off in an elimination game at the 2022 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, with the Wildcats coming away with an 8-6 victory...Arizona and Oregon State have yet to face each other at the Pac-12 Tournament.

STREAKONOMICS: Outfielder Chase Davis strung together a 59-game on-base streak between May 8, 2022 and May 10, 2023 that tied the Arizona program record also previously accomplished by Cole Frenzel (2010-11) and Todd Trafton (1984-85) His streak ended with an 0-for-5 outing at No. 4 Stanford on May 12. His 45-game on-base streak this year was the second-longest posted by a Wildcat during the StatCrew era (1998-current). The longest active on-base streak on the team currently belongs to outfielder Mac Bingham, who has safely reached base in 11 straight games. Davis, Emilio Corona, and Tony Bullard all currently sport five-game hit streaks. Freshman infielder Mason White saw his 17-game hit streak end on Tuesday, May 2 at Grand Canyon, the longest streak by a Wildcat this season.

DAVIS HONORED AS GOLDEN SPIKES SEMIFINALIST: Junior outfielder Chase Davis, one of the most accomplished sluggers in Arizona Baseball history, has been selected as one of 25 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseball announced on Monday. The Golden Spikes Award, now in its 45th year, is awarded annually to the nation's top amateur baseball player. Davis is the seventh Arizona player and the first outfielder to earn a spot on the Golden Spikes Award semifinalist list since 2007. He is one of just three Pac-12 players to earn the semifinalist distinction this year. Davis finished the regular season leading the Pac-12 and top 40 nationally with 19 home runs, while his 62 RBI rank third in the conference. Across 51 games Davis paced the Wildcats, one of the top offenses in the nation, with a .371 batting average. The California native also collected 65 runs, 14 doubles, two triples, a .756 slugging percentage, and a .496 on-base percentage. He currently sits in third place on the Arizona career leaderboard with 37 home runs, while his 19 long balls this year are sixth most in a single-season in program history. Davis shined on defense as well, where he posted a .961 fielding percentage and logged five outfield assists as the Wildcats everyday starting left fielder. While not countable on the stat sheet, he also contributed numerous highlight reel moments with his glove in left.

McCLAUGHRY NAMED BROOKS WALLACE SEMIFINALIST: Arizona Baseball senior shortstop Nik McClaughry has been selected as a semifinalist for the 2023 Brooks Wallace Award, the College Baseball Foundation announced last week. The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented this summer by the College Baseball Foundation. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, a slick-fielding shortstop who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27. McClaughry earned his way onto the list with another season of elite defense and strong offensive performance. Through 49 games this year the California native is hitting .330 with 62 runs scored, 18 extra-base hits, 31 RBI, and a .441 on-base percentage. Defensively, the Wildcats field captain has posted a sparkling .981 fielding percentage with a conference-leading 148 defensive assists and only four errors coming on 213 total chances. A wizard on defense, McClaughry has provided numerous highlight reel plays up the middle of the Arizona infield. He has contributed to 20 of the Wildcats 35 double plays turned this season and has been even better when the games mattered most, posting a .983 fielding percentage in 27 Pac-12 starts.

FIVE ON CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: Five Arizona Baseball academic and athletic standouts earned selection to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, the organization announced last week. Outfielder Mac Bingham, along with right-handed pitchers Dawson Netz, Trevor Long, TJ Nichols, and Anthony Susac, all earned the honors.

CRUSH DAVIS: Outfielder Chase Davis has proven himself to be a prolific power hitter during his collegiate career. After swatting 18 during his sophomore campaign, he has followed up with a career-high 19 so far this year to give him 37 career long balls. Davis enters the tournament all alone in third place on the Wildcats career leaderboard. His 18 home runs last year led the team, ranked third in the Pac-12, and were tied for the sixth most in a single season in program history. His 19 home runs this year are sixth most in program history, the most in the Pac-12 during the regular season, and Top 40 nationally.

ALFA ROMERO: First baseman Kiko Romero has put together one of the most prolific run-producing seasons in Arizona history. His 80 RBI entering the tournament lead the Pac-12 by 17 and are the fifth most among all Division I players. Additionally, his rate of 1.51 RBI per game is the sixth best mark in Division I. Romero currently sits in a tie for sixth place on the Arizona single-season leaderboard, and is six RBI shy of the single-season record. The junior leads the team with 22 multi-RBI performances across 53 games this season, the most since Nick Quintana recorded 23 in 56 games in 2019.

EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: Through 53 games, the Arizona offense has combined to swat 249 extra-base hits, the 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 2,132 extra-base hits (second: Stanford, 2,012). During that stretch Arizona has paced the conference in doubles six times and triples six times.

LIVE BY THE LONG BALL: The Arizona lineup has slugged home runs at a historic rate this season, having crushed 84 homers in 53 games so far. Their production has been wide spread too, with five Wildcats — Chase Davis (17), Kiko Romero (15), Mac Bingham (10), Tony Bullard (10), and Emilio Corona (10) — have swatted 10 or more home runs this season. This marks the first time an Arizona lineup has has five players with 10+ HR since the 1993 squad had five on a squad that set the program team record: George Arias (23), Jason Thompson (20), Todd Landry (17), Willie Morales (13), Robbie Moen (10).