TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Arizona baseball team is set to travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to close out the 2026 regular season, as they face No. 21 Oklahoma State in a three-game Big 12 series.

The Wildcats and Cowboys will play three games beginning on Thursday at 4 p.m. (MST). Game two will take place on Friday at 4 p.m. (MST), while the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 10:00 a.m. (MST).

Arizona enters the series one-game back from Texas Tech for the final spot in the Big 12 Tournament, and the Red Raiders own the tiebreaker, as the Wildcats will aim to put together a big weekend to close out the regular season and try to clinch their spot in the conference tournament. 

LEADING OFF: 

• The Arizona Wildcats and the No. 21 Oklahoma State Cowboys are set to meet for a three-game Big 12 series at O'Brate Stadium in what will be the final regular season series for both teams.

• Arizona and Oklahoma State have met 24 times previously, with the Cowboys holding a 15-9 advantage in the series. Arizona is 2-1 against OSU as Big 12 opponents.

• Beau Sylvester has recorded a hit in 20 of Arizona's past 21 games, including 11 multi-hit games over that stretch, and he is coming off a week in which he went 7-for-17 (.412) with two home runs, a triple, and five RBI.

• Carson McEntire is coming off his bat week of the season at the plate, as he went 6-for-14 (.429) with a double and a home run across four games. He had a season-high three hits in the series finale against Houston on Sunday.

• True freshman Cash Brennan enters the weekend on a nine-game hitting streak, and over Arizona's past six games he is a combined 10-for 25 (.400) with five runs scored and five RBI.

• Despite not having his best week, Tony Lira continues to pace Arizona in a multitude of statistical categories, including ranking first in hits (70), OPS (.928), on-base percentage (.421), slugging percentage (.507), doubles (17), and extra-base hits (23), while ranking second in runs scored (29), and batting average (.341).

• Starting pitcher Owen Kramkowski has tossed 5.0 innings or more in each of his past 10 starts, and he is ninth in the Big 12 in strikeouts (73), and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.21).

• Evan Brandt made his first start of the season on the mound for Arizona on Sunday, and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, while allowing just three hits.

SOME WEEKEND THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats and the Oklahoma State Cowboys are set to meet for a critical three-game Big 12 series, marking the final three games of the 2026 regular season for both teams…Arizona and Oklahoma State have met 24 times previously, with the Cowboys holding a 15-9 advantage in the series…Arizona won two of three games against Oklahoma State in Tucson last season…Arizona enters the weekend one game behind Texas Tech in the Big 12 standings for the final spot in the conference tournament and the Red Raiders own the tiebreaker, as the Wildcats will need to have a superb weekend to solidify their spot in Surprise, Arizona next week…Oklahoma State is currently in fifth-place in the conference standings and sits just one game back from UCF and Arizona State, as they have the opportunity to further improve their seeding…Arizona is coming off a 2-2 week in which they defeated New Mexico State, 8-6, last Wednesday, before going 1-2 against Houston over the weekend…Redshirt sophomore Carson McEntire had potentially his best week of the season at the plate for the Wildcats last week, going a combined 6-for-14 with a home run, a double, and three RBI, and McEntire leads Arizona in home runs this season (9)...Oklahoma State transfer Beau Sylvester continued his remarkable play last week, going 7-for-17 with two home runs, a triple, five RBI, and five runs scored across four games…Sylvester now leads the team in batting average this season, as he has recorded a hit in 20 of the past 21 games and his average has ascended to .345, and he is hitting an exceptional .379 in Big 12 play…True freshman Cash Brennan has found his stride at the plate, and he enters the weekend on a nine-game hitting streak, and he has started the past six games for Arizona and is a combined 10-for-25 (.400) over that stretch…Nate Novitske started all four games for Arizona last week and hit .400 (8-for-20) with three runs scored, and he ranks second on the team in hits this season (64), and third in batting average (.312)...Senior left-handed pitcher Luc Fladda had another strong performance after shifting from the Sunday starter to the Saturday role, tossing 6.0 innings and allowing just one run against Houston on Saturday…Evan Brandt started on the mound for Arizona on Sunday, marking the first start of his Division I career and the just the second time he had pitched over the past month, and he delivered a tremendous outing, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings, while limiting Houston to just three hits to help Arizona collect the victory…Senior relief pitcher Patrick Morris surrendered three runs on three hits without recording an out against Houston Saturday, before bouncing back with one of his best performances of the season on Sunday, as he pitched 4.0 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits to earn the victory on the mound…Redshirt freshman Tony Lira did not have his best week last week; however, he went 3-4 with two doubles and two RBI against Houston on Friday, and he has recorded a hit in 38 of 50 games this season, including having a team-high 23 multi-hit games…Arizona's pitching staff ranks first in the Big 12 in FIP (4.68), and home runs allowed (41), while ranking second in base-on-balls percentage (15.6%), third in walks per nine innings (3.75), and fifth in strikeouts this season (463)...Oklahoma State enters the series with an overall record of 34-18, including a mark of 16-8 in Big 12 play, and the Cowboys have played their best baseball as of late, as they have won three consecutive conference series over Arizona State, TCU, and Texas Tech, and they are a combined 8-1 over their past nine conference games…The Cowboys are led by Head Coach Josh Holiday who is in his 14th season at the helm of the program and holds an overall record of 509-281-2…The Cowboys boast one of the best offenses in the Big 12 this season, as they rank first in the conference in home runs (128), and slugging percentage (.564), while ranking second in runs scored (447), RBI (424), and third in OPS (.967).

FABULOUS FRESHMEN: Arizona has had five separate freshmen start 25 or more games this season, and they have continued to make a noteworthy impact. Redshirt freshmen Tony Lira and Nate Novitske and true freshmen Caleb Danzeisen have led Arizona offensively all season. Lira has been tremendous, while Novitske ranks third on the team in batting average (.312) and second in hits (64), and he is coming off one of his best weeks of the season, where he started all four games and went 8-for-20 at the plate with two doubles. Earlier this season, Novitske was named the MVP of the Live Like Lou Las Vegas Classic after recording three consecutive games with three hits apiece against Oregon, Vanderbilt, and UC Irvine. Novitske is second on the team in multi-hit games this season with 19 and he leads the team with seven outings with three hits. Danzeisen is first on the team in walks (34), and third in on-base percentage (.395), and he has reached base in 35 of the 39 games that he has started this season. Redshirt freshman Jackson Forbes has started 27 games and he has eight extra-base hits, including four home runs, and he is sixth on the team in RBI (22). True freshman Cash Brennan has been superb as of late, and he enters the weekend series on a nine-game hitting streak. He has started the past six games and has recorded four multi-hit games over the stretch, as his average has ascended to .289. He is coming off a weekend series against Houston in which he went 5-for-14 with a double and three runs scored. True freshman Joe Forbes, the younger brother of Jackson Forbes, started behind the plate in the series finale against Houston on Sunday and hit the game-winning home run, a solo shot to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning that marked the first homer of his collegiate career.

SYLVESTER STEPPING UP: Senior Beau Sylvester has continued to elevate his play as the season has gone on, and he has been one of Arizona's best and most consistent players throughout Big 12 play. Sylvester enters the weekend series having recorded a hit in 20 of his past 21 games started, and he is coming off another tremendous week. Sylvester opened the week by going 2-for-5 with two home runs against New Mexico State, marking the first multi-homer game of his career, and the first by an Arizona player this season. Sylvester has reached base safely in 33 of 37 games that he has started this season, and he has recorded a hit in 32 of 37 contests for the Wildcats. Sylvester's batting average has ascended to the second best mark on the team (.45), and he is also second in on-base percentage (.405), and tied for third in doubles (10), and runs scored (27). In Big 12 play, Sylvester has started 22 games and leads the team in batting average (.379), OPS (.943), runs scored (17), and he is tied for first in hits (33). Over the past 21 games that he has started, he is batting .405 with five doubles, three home runs, two triples, 11 RBI and 16 runs scored. 

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 (.928), hits (70), doubles (17), on-base percentage (.421), slugging percentage (.507), extra-base hits (23), while ranking second in runs (30), and batting average (.341). Lira has recorded a hit in 32 of the past 39 games, and he has collected at least one hit in 38 of 50 contests this season. He has put together 23 multi-hit performances, and he is batting an exceptional .436 with runners in scoring position this season (17-39). In addition to his stellar play at the plate, Lira has also been a vital piece defensively for Arizona, starting all 50 games at first base for the Wildcats. 

STARTING ROTATION: Arizona maintained the same weekend rotation for nearly the entire season after bringing 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 served as the Saturday starter until having to exit a game against two weekends ago due to an injury. 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 had back-to-back outstanding performances against TCU and Kansas State, tossing a combined 14.0 innings and striking out 15.  He had another impressive outing two weekends agao at Kansas, limiting a potent Jayhawks offense to four hits and three runs across five innings of work with 11 strikeouts. Kramkowski is first on the team and ninth in the Big 12 in strikeouts (73), and he has pitched at least 5.0 innings in each of his last 10 starts. He also ranks third in the conference in strikeout to walk ratio (5.21), second in base-on-balls percentage (7.7%), and fourth in walks per nine innings (1.79). Bailey will not be in the rotation this weekend, and senior transfer Luc Fladda will shift up to the Saturday slot after serving as the Sunday starter for the majority of the season for the Wildcats. 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 68.0 innings this year and has issued just seven walks while recording 52 strikeouts, and he leads the Big 12 in strikeout/walk ratio (7.43). Fladda had an outstanding performance two weeks ago against BYU where he tossed 6.2 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters, earning Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance. He has pitched 6.0 innings or more in six of his 11 starts. He is coming off a solid outing against Houston in which he had a unique stat line, tossing 5.0 innings and limiting the Cougars to just one run, while allowing 10 hits.