TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (31-13, 13-8) and TCU Horned Frogs (32-13, 14-7) face off in a pivotal three-game series at Hi Corbett Field this weekend.

All three games will be televised on ESPN+ and broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM with play-by-play from Brian Jeffries available through both options.

The weekend's promos are highlighted by a beverage bat giveaway on Saturday, and Star Wars Day on Sunday. Tickets for all three games are available for purchase here.

Arizona and TCU are locked in a battle to secure a top four seed and a first round bye in the Big 12 tournament at the end of May; the winner of this weekend's series will put themselves in prime position for postseason success.

For more, a complete series preview is below.
 

Date	Opponent	Time (MST)	Arizona Pitcher	Opponent Pitcher
Friday, May 2	TCU	6:00 PM	RHP Owen Kramkowski (7-3, 4.63)	RHP Tommy LaPour (7-2, 2.14)
Saturday, May 3	TCU	6:00 PM	RHP Collin McKinney (0-1, 3.02)	RHP Caedmon Parker (3-1, 3.63)
Sunday, May 4	TCU	12:00 PM	RHP Smith Bailey (1-2, 4.26)	TBA

Leading Off...

• The Arizona Wildcats host a crucial Big 12 series against the TCU Horned Frogs this weekend at Hi Corbett Field.
• All three games this weekend will be televised on ESPN+ and broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM, with both options featuring play-by-play from Brian Jeffries.
• Arizona and TCU have faced off 11 times prior to this weekend, with games dating back to 1956 and the Wildcats holding a 7-4 (.636) lead in the all-time series.
• The most recent meeting between the two teams went the way of the Horned Frogs, who won a midweek matchup against the Wildcats, 6-1, in February 2024.
• Four of the previous 11 meetings between Arizona and TCU came in the postseason, with the most recent instance coming in 2023 at the Fayetteville NCAA Regional. This is the first meeting between the Wildcats and Horned Frogs in Tucson since a five-game series in 1970.
• Shortstop Mason White currently ranks fourth in program history with 38 career home runs. He sits just one home run shy of a tie for third. Of his 38 career home runs, 28 have been hit away from Hi Corbett Field at road/neutral venues.
• Reliever Tony Pluta currently leads the Big 12 and ranked tied for fifth nationally with 10 saves. His 10 saves are tied for the fourth most in a single season in program history and are three shy of Jason Stoffel's record 13 saves in 2008.
• 44 games into the season the Wildcats have collected a Division I best 28 triples, four more than second place Kent State (24) and more than they collected in 59 games last season. 21 of Arizona's 28 triples have been hit at home.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats and TCU Horned Frogs meet for a three-game series this weekend at Hi Corbett Field that will play a crucial role in the seeding for the Big 12 Baseball Championship later this month...Arizona enters the weekend fifth in the conference standings, just one game back of TCU and ASU who are tied for third...All three games this weekend will be televised on ESPN+ and broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM, with both options featuring play-by-play from Brian Jeffries...Arizona and TCU have faced off 11 times prior to this weekend, with games dating back to 1956 and the Wildcats holding a 7-4 (.636) lead in the all-time series...The most recent meeting between the two teams went the way of the Horned Frogs, who won a midweek matchup against the Wildcats, 6-1, in February 2024...Four of the previous 11 meetings between Arizona and TCU came in the postseason, with the most recent instance coming in 2023 at the Fayetteville NCAA Regional...This is the first meeting between the Wildcats and Horned Frogs in Tucson since a five-game series in 1970...Arizona won that series, 4-1, and is 6-1 all-time against TCU in Tucson...The Wildcats remain ranked in all but one of the major national polls this week; Arizona currently sits at No. 24 from D1Baseball and the USA Today Coaches Poll, No 22 from the NCBWA, and No. 23 from Perfect Game...Shortstop Mason White currently ranks fourth in program history with 38 career home runs...He sits just one home run shy of a tie for third. Of his 38 career home runs, 28 have been hit away from Hi Corbett Field at road/neutral venues...Reliever Tony Pluta currently leads the Big 12 and ranked tied for fifth nationally with 10 saves...His 10 saves are tied for the fourth most in a single season in program history and are three shy of Jason Stoffel's record 13 saves in 2008...Pluta is also tied for ninth in program history with 12 career saves...44 games into the season the Wildcats have collected a Division I best 28 triples, four more than second place Kent State (24) and more than they collected in 59 games last season...21 of Arizona's 28 triples have been hit at home...TCU is led by fourth-year head coack Kirk Saarloos, who has steered the Horned Frogs to a 147-80 record, one College World Series appearance, two NCAA Tournament appearances, one Big 12 regular season championship, and one Big 12 tournament championship during his time in Fort Worth.

STREAKONOMICS: Outfielder Aaron Walton enters this weekend's action against TCU riding the longest active hit streak on the team, having hit safely in each of the last six contests. Over that stretch, Walton has hit .385 (10-of-26) with four runs scored, two doubles, one triple, two home runs, and six RBI. Walton also carries an extended on-base streak, having reached base safely in 19 consecutive games dating back to March 29 against Baylor; over that stretch he has posted a .478 on-base percentage and scored 21 runs. Infielder Tommy Splaine (8 games), infielder Maddox Mihalakis (5 games), and infielder Richie Morales (5 games) also boast active on-base streaks of five games or longer. The longest active on-base streak on the team belongs to Brendan Summerhill (25 games), who is likely unavailable this weekend due to injury.

TUCSON'S OWN: Infielder and Tucson native Mason White has slugged his way into the Arizona Baseball record books. With 10 home runs as a true freshman, a team-leading 19 last year as a sophomore, and nine more so far this year, White is now fourth in program history with 38 dingers. In two-plus years he has averaged one home run every 16.53 at-bats, putting him on pace to finish with approximately 40 career home runs and rank third all-time for his hometown program. He has also cracked the Wildcats career top 10 in extra-base hits, with 94.

SAVING PRIVATE PLUTA: Reliever Tony Pluta has been a rock-solid force out of the Arizona bullpen this season and has quickly risen up the program's single-season and career saves leaderboards. With 10 saves this year and 12 for his career, Pluta finds himself ranked tied for fourth on the Wildcats single-season charts and tied for ninth on the Arizona career leaderboard. Pluta was selected to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List, but was inexplicably left off the midseason watch list.

3,000 CLUB: Arizona Baseball is one of just 10 programs in the history of college baseball to win 3,000 games. As it currently stands, Arizona is the 10th all-time winningest program in the history of the sport. The Wildcats logged their 3,000th victory with a 3-2 win over UCLA on March 29, 2024. Across time as a player (1984-87) and as a coach (2022-present), Arizona head coach Chip Hale has contributed to over 9% (291) of the program's all-time wins.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION: Arizona infielder Mathis Meurant, who was born and raised in France, is the lone player on the Wildcats roster from outside the United States. With assistance from Jeff Duda (@INTLBaseball24 on Twitter) and the French Baseball and Softball Federation it has been confirmed that, upon his Wildcat debut on opening weekend in Arlington, Meurant became the first French player at the Power Conference level in NCAA history. Meurant originally hails from Vaires-sur-Marne, a small town just east of Paris. Following a breakout performance in week two against San Diego in which he posted a 2.200 OPS, Meurant was selected as the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week, making him the first Arizona Baseball player to receive a Big 12 weekly award.

EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: Arizona has consistently 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 have swatted 2,518 extra-base hits. Over that stretch, only one current members of the Big 12 Conference have tallied more extra-base hits: Texas Tech (2,696). Across 13 seasons at Hi Corbett Field as members of the Pac-12 Conference, Arizona paced the league in doubles seven times and triples eight times; they currently lead the Big 12 and the nation with 28 triples.

ALWAYS BE CATCHING: Arizona catcher Adonys Guzman was selected to the Buster Posey Award Midseason Watchlist, the Wichita Sports Commission announced recently. Guzman was one of 56 Division I catchers to earn a spot on the midseason watch list. The award has been presented annually since 2000 to the nation's most outstanding catcher; it was previously known as the Johnny Bench Award until renaming it after the famous Florida State and San Francisco Giants catcher, Buster Posey, in 2019. Through 41 games, Guzman has posted a .314 batting average (48-for-153) with 30 runs scored, nine doubles, five home runs, and 30 RBI, all of which are career-high marks. In addition to his contributions at the plate, Guzman has started 37 games behind the plate and posted an impressive 4.32 catcher's ERA. The junior backstop has thrown out 13 would-be base stealers and registered a .992 fielding percentage on a team-high 383 total chances.

VITAMIN K: During a 16-inning marathon win against West Virginia on Friday, March 21 the Wildcats pitching staff tallied a program-record 29 strikeouts. The impressive mark shattered the previous program high of 21, set on April 26, 1940. The previous high-water mark of 21, accomplished 85 years ago, was solely the work of one man: Ken Heist. He struck out 21 New Mexico Lobos in a game played at Hi Corbett Field, then named Randolph Park, decades before it became the permanent home of the Wildcats. Arizona's program record 29 strikeout performance fell just two strikeouts shy of tying the NCAA record of 31.

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 13+ seasons, Arizona has posted a home record of 312-126, winning games at a .712 clip. Their home winning percentage over that stretch is the third best mark in the Big 12 Conference, while their 312 home victories are second most in the conference.