HOUSTON, Texas — The Arizona Wildcats (34-17, 16-11) face the Houston Cougars (28-22. 11-15) in a three game series this weekend in what will be the final regular season games for both clubs.

All three games will be televised on ESPN+ and broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM, with the latter featuring play-by-play fom Brian Jeffries.

Arizona is a lock for the Big 12 Championship next week in Arlington, but looks to improve their seeding for the tournament with wins this weekend. A top four seed would earn Arizona a bye through the first round.

The Wildcats tweaked their starting rotation for just the second time this season, moving Rio Rico native Raul Garayzar into the game two starter role.

For more, a complete series preview is below.
 

Date	Opponent	Time (MST)	Arizona Pitcher	Opponent Pitcher
Thursday, May 15	Houston	4:30 PM	RHP Owen Kramkowski (7-4, 5.08)	LHP Chris Scinta (4-1, 4.35)
Friday, May 16	Houston	4:30 PM	RHP Raul Garayzar (1-0, 2.51)	RHP Alex Solis (2-1, 4.35)
Saturday, May 17	Houston	11:00 AM	RHP Smith Bailey (1-3, 4.83)	TBA

Leading Off...

• The Arizona Wildcats return to the state of Texas to wrap up their regular season schedule with a three-game series against the Houston Cougars.
• All three games this weekend will be televised on ESPN+ with Jeremy Branham (PxP) and Kyle Rogers (Analyst) on the call. The series will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 with play-by-play from Brian Jeffries.
• Arizona and Houston have faced off 11 times previously, with games dating back to 1960 and the Wildcats holding a narrow 6-5 (.545) edge in the all-time series. The two have only played a trio of games in Houston, a three-game series in 2019 that the Cougars won 2-1.
• The most recent meeting between the two teams was a three-game series played in Tucson in March 2020, just before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wildcats won that series, 2-1.
• Shortstop Mason White currently ranks third in program history with 41 career home runs. He sits just two home runs shy of a tie for second. Of his 41 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 eighth nationally with 11 saves. His 11 saves are tied for the second most in a single season in program history and are two shy of Jason Stoffel's record 13 saves in 2008.
• 51 games into the season the Wildcats have collected a Division I best 31 triples, four more than second place Kent State (27) and more than they collected in 59 games last season. 24 of Arizona's 31 triples have been hit at home.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats return to the state of Texas for their fourth week in the Lone Star State as they face a three-game road series against the Houston Cougars this Thursday–Saturday at Schroeder Park...Arizona's resume in Texas this season includes participation in the Shriner's Children's College Showdown in week one, the Astros Foundation College Classic in week three, and a three-game series against Texas Tech in week 11, as well as a midweek against Rice mixed in...Overall, the Wildcats hold a record of 4-6 in Texas this season...All three games this weekend will be televised on ESPN+ with Jeremy Branham (PxP), Kyle Rogers (Analyst), and Austyn Iven (Reporter) serving as the talent...The series will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM with Brian Jeffries on play-by-play duties...Arizona and Houston have faced off 11 times previously, with games dating back to 1960 and the Wildcats holding a narrow 6-5 (.545) edge in the all-time series...The two have only played a trio of games in Houston, a three-game series in 2019 that the Cougars won 2-1...The most recent meeting between the two teams was a three-game series played in Tucson in March 2020, just before the season was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Wildcats won that series, 2-1...Following a disappointing 1-3 performance last week, Arizona dropped out of most major national polls...The Wildcats held steady at No. 24 in the NCBWA poll while falling out of the Top 25 at every other outlet...Shortstop Mason White currently ranks third in program history with 41 career home runs; he sits just two home runs shy of a tie for second...Of White's 41 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 eighth nationally with 11 saves...His 11 saves are tied for the second most in a single season in program history and are two shy of Jason Stoffel's record 13 saves in 2008...51 games into the season the Wildcats have collected a Division I best 31 triples, four more than second place Kent State (27) and more than they collected in 59 games last season...Infielder Garen Caulfield has cemented himself among the iron men in Arizona Baseball history, as he currently ranks 10th in program history in games played (217) and ninth in at-bats (819)...Houston is led by 15th-year head coach Todd Whiting, who has steered the Cougars to a 472-360 (.567) record, four NCAA Tournament appearances, and one Super Regional appearance during his tenure in Space City.

STREAKONOMICS: No Wildcats carry hit streaks of five-plus games into this week's action at Houston. The two longest active hit streaks belong to infielder Mason White and outfielder Brendan Summerhill, both of whom carry three-game streaks. The longest active on-base streak on the team belong to Garen Caulfield, who has reached base safely in each of his last 8 games. Caulfield also owns the longest hit streak bt a Wildcat this season, a 15-game streak. Summerhill and fellow outfielder Aaron Walton have both posted 25-game on-base streaks this season, tied for the longest on the team this year.

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 12 more so far this year, White is now third in program history with 41 dingers. He has also piled up 99 career extra-base hits, tied for the fifth most in program history and just two shy of his current head coach, Chip Hale, who had 101 for third in Arizona history. 

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 11 saves this year and 13 for his career, Pluta finds himself ranked tied for second on the Wildcats single-season charts and tied for seventh on the Arizona career leaderboard. Pluta leads the Big 12 and ranks tied for eighth nationally with 11 saves this year.

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 48 games, Guzman has posted a .313 batting average (55-for-176) with 34 runs scored, nine doubles, six home runs, and 31 RBI, all of which are career-high marks. In addition to his contributions at the plate, Guzman has started 43 games behind the plate and posted an impressive 4.72 catcher's ERA. The junior backstop has thrown out 16 would-be base stealers and registered a .988 fielding percentage on a team-high 427 total chances. Guzman's 16 baserunners caught stealing are tied for the eighth most in a single season by a Wildcat during the StatCrew era (1998-current).

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.

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% (293) 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 2,539 extra-base hits. Over that stretch, only one current members of the Big 12 Conference have tallied more extra-base hits: Texas Tech (2,713). 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 31 triples.

IRON MAN: Wildcat infielder Garen Caulfield has logged nearly four full seasons in an Arizona uniform and has cemented himself among some of the most prolific players in program history. Since 2022, Caulfield has seen time in 217 games (209 starts) and tallied 819 at-bats, marks that rank 10th and 9th in Arizona Baseball history. With a minimum of six games likely remaining in the Wildcats season, Caulfield could reach as high as fifth in games played. He could also challenge for fifth all-time in at-bats.