TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Arizona baseball team is set to host BYU for a three-game Big 12 series at Hi-Corbett Field, beginning on Thursday night. 

Arizona (15-24) has played some of its best baseball of the season as of late, and they are 5-3 over their past eight games, including a road series victory over TCU, and a thrilling 5-3 victory at Arizona State last Monday. It is a critical series for both teams, as the Wildcats are tied for the last spot in the Big 12 Tournament, and BYU (20-19, 9-9) is currently tied for sixth place with three other teams.

Thursday and Friday night's contests are scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. (MST), while the series finale on Saturday will begin at 12:00 p.m. (MST). All three games will be available for viewing on ESPN+.

LEADING OFF: 

• The Arizona Wildcats wrap up a six-game homestand with a three-game series against BYU at Hi-Corbett Field beginning on Thursday night.

• Arizona and BYU have met 35 times previously, with the Wildcats holding a 25-10 advantage in the all-time series.

• Arizona is coming off a difficult series loss to Kansas State, but the Wildcats won the series finale 11-7.

• Smith Bailey was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, and was named to Baseball America's National Team of the Week after a historical performance in which he struck out 15 batters and allowed just one hit across 6.0 innings last Saturday.

• Owen Kramkowski has had back-to-back stellar outings, combining to allow just four runs on 13 hits in 14 innings of work, while striking out 15 batters.

• Beau Sylvester has reached base safely in all 26 games he has started this season, and he is currently on a 10-game hitting streak entering the series, while leading the team with a .393 batting average in Big 12 play.

• Relief pitcher Garrett Hicks has allowed just one run over his past eight outings (14.2 IP), and he was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List on Wednesday. 

• Junior Andrew Cain is coming off his best week of the season where he went 7-for-17 with a home run, two triples, four runs scored, and four RBI.

• Tony Lira continues to pace the Arizona offense, as he leads the team in batting average (.354), hits (57), doubles (11), slugging percentage (.516), and on-base percentage (.432), while ranking tied for first in extra-base hits (15), and runs scored (25).

BAILEY'S CAREER NIGHT: Smith Bailey is coming off arguably the best performance of his career last Saturday night against Kansas State. The right-hander tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out 15 batters. He became the first Arizona pitcher to record 15 strikeouts in over 15 years and he was just one strikeout shy of matching the program record for most strikeouts in a conference game. Bailey garnered a multitude of recognition for his performance, as he was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, and was named to Baseball America's National Team of the Week.

LIRA LEADING THE WAY: Just as he has done all season long, redshirt-freshman Tony Lira continues to lead the way for Arizona offensively. Lira leads the Wildcats in a multitude of offensive categories, including OPS (.948), batting average (.354), hits (57), doubles (11), on-base percentage (.432), slugging percentage (.516), while ranking  tied for first in runs (24) and extra-base hits (16). Lira has recorded a hit in 23 of the past 28 games, and he has collected at least one hit in 29 of 39 contests this season. He has put together 21 multi-hit performances, and he is batting an exceptional .452 with runners in scoring position this season (14-31). In addition to his stellar play at the plate, Lira has also been a vital piece defensively for Arizona, starting all 39 games at first base for the Wildcats

CAIN COMING ALIVE: Junior Andrew Cain is coming off his best week of the season, highlighted by a 3-for-5 performance at Arizona State that included a home run and the go-ahead RBI double in the top of the 11th inning. Cain had at least one hit in each of Arizona's four games last week, including two-multi hit performances. He had two triples in addition to the home run and four RBI. Cain ranks second on the team in OPS (.837), and fourth in on-base percentage (.374), and he is tied for the fourth in RBI (21).

SYLVESTER STEPPING UP: Senior Beau Sylvester has continued to elevate his play as the season has gone on, and he is playing arguably the best baseball of his career as of late. Sylvester enters the series against BYU on a 10-game hitting streak, marking the longest streak by an Arizona player this season. Sylvester has reached base safely in all 26 games that he has started this season, and he has recorded a hit in 22 of 26 contests for the Wildcats. Sylvester's batting average has ascended to the third best mark on the team (.320), and he is also third in on-base percentage (.386), and tied for third in doubles (8). Over his current 10-game hitting streak, he is batting .410 with three doubles, a triple, and a home run.

BULLPEN HOLDING IT DOWN: Arizona's bullpen has been strong as of late, as numerous relief pitchers have delivered signature performances. Garrett Hicks was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List, and he has been dominant as of late. Over his past eight outings, Hicks has pitched 14.2 innings and allowed just one run, seven hits, while collecting three saves and two wins. Hicks leads the team this season with a 2.35 ERA and he is tied for first in the Big 12 with six saves. Corey Kling had arguably his best performance of the year last Monday at ASU, tossing a season-high 3.0 innings, allowing no runs and no hits while striking out three. Collin McKinney was shifted to the bullpen after beginning the season as a starter and has thrived in the role. On Sunday against Kansas State, he pitched 4.0 innings and struck out six, while allowing just two hits. 

STARTING ROTATION ON LOCK: Arizona brought back a large portion of its pitching from the 2025 season, as six of 11 pitchers who threw at least 18 innings last season returned for the 2026 campaign, highlighted by returning starters Owen Kramkowski and Smith Bailey. Kramkowski has been the Friday night starter so far, while Bailey has served as the Saturday starter. Both pitchers were ranked in D1 Baseball's Preseason Top-200 Starting Pitcher rankings. Bailey led the way coming in at #16, while Kramkowski landed at #39. Kramkowski is coming off a breakout sophomore campaign in which he earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors after starting 18 games and posting a record of 9-6 throughout the season. He compiled an ERA of 5.48 across a team-high 92.0 innings of work and recorded 90 strikeouts to just 18 walks. The Sahuarita, Arizona native garnered All-Big 12 Preseason honors and was tabbed a Preseason Third Team All-American by Perfect Game. Kramkowski did not have a great start to the season; however, he had a tremendous performance against Fresno State (3/6) to get back into form, in which he struck out a career-high 12 batters in six innings to help lead Arizona to a shutout victory over Fresno State (3/6). Kramkowski was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week following the superb performance. He has had back-to-back outstanding performances, tossing a combined 14.0 innings and striking out 15. Kramkowski is second on the team and ranks ninth in the Big 12 in strikeouts (56), and he has pitched at least 5.0 innings in each of his last seven starts. He also ranks second in the conference in strikeout to walk ratio (5.60). Bailey is in his sophomore season after an exceptional freshman campaign in which he was named a First Team Freshman All-American by D1Baseball, a Second Team Freshman All-American by Baseball America and Perfect Game and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. During the 2025 season, Bailey started 18 games on the mound, compiling a record of 3-3. He recorded an ERA of 3.94 across 89.0 innings of work and struck out 80 batters. This season, he is 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA and an opposing batting average of .262 in nine starts. He is coming off the best performance of his career, in which he threw 6.0 innings and allowed just one hit and no runs, while striking out a career-high 15 batters. Bailey is first on the team and eighth in the conference in strikeouts this season (58). Senior transfer Luc Fladda emerged as the Sunday starter for the Wildcats and has been exceptional this season. The Tulane transfer started 30 games across two seasons for the Green Wave the past two years, before joining Arizona ahead of the 2026 campaign for his final collegiate season. Fladda has tossed 50.0 innings this year and has issued just five walks while recording 38 strikeouts, and he leads the Big 12 in strikeout/walk ratio (7.60). Fladda has an ERA of 5.58 and he is holding opposing hitters to a .281 average at the plate. Fladda had one of the best performances of his career against UC Irvine (3/1), as he pitched 7.0 innings and allowed no runs on four hits and no walks, while matching a career-high with nine strikeouts, and he has pitched 7.0 innings or more in four of eight starts.