Arizona Wildcats

Current 2005 Record: 9-1

Rankings: No. 7 Sports Weekly, No. 9 Baseball America, No. 10 Collegiate Baseball

Record Last Week: 3-1

Last Week's Results:

Tues. (Feb. 15) ?- 7-6 win vs. #11 Arizona State (14 Innings)

Fri. (Feb. 18) ?- 18-3 win at UT-Pan American

Sat. (Feb. 19) ?- 8-2 win at UT-Pan American

Sun. (Feb. 20) ?- 7-0 loss at UT-Pan American

This Week:

Wed. (Feb. 23) - vs. Arizona State (Non-conference)

Fri. (Feb. 25) ?- vs. UC Riverside

Sat. (Feb. 26) - vs. UC Riverside

Sun. (Feb. 27) - vs. UC Riverside

About Today’s Starter: Freshman left-hander David Coulon (1-0, 1.64 ERA, 12 Ks, 4 BB) will toe the rubber for the Wildcats in their second meeting with the Sun Devils ... He started the Sunday contest against UT-Pan American, but was held to a 35-pitch limit in order to preserve him for Wednesday’s game vs. ASU... Wednesday will mark Coulon’s team-high fourth start of the year ... In his first career start against New Mexico on Feb. 6, Coulon gave up three runs on three hits in four innings of work. He struck out five and walked two in the no-decision effort ... A week later (Feb. 13) he earned his first career victory with five scoreless innings against Northern Colorado. He struck out seven and walked just one in the game against the Bears ... In his shortened appearance against UTPA, he worked two scoreless innings before being lifted. He did not factor in the decision.

Last Week Recap

The Wildcats went 3-1 last week, defeating Arizona State 7-6 in 14 innings and winning its series against UT-Pan American two games to one ... Despite the successful week, the Wildcats dropped their first game of the season, 7-0 to UTPA, to end a nine-game winning streak ... Still Arizona moved up in two polls (Sports Weekly and Baseball America) and held firm in another (Collegiate Baseball) ... Arizona batted .309 in the four games and scored 33 runs (8.25 runs/game) ... The Wildcats hit eight doubles, two triples and six home runs over the course of the week ... Arizona State (Feb. 15) ?- Jordan Brown’s two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the 14^th inning lifted Arizona to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Sun Devils ... With ASU leading 5-2 after six and half innings, the Wildcats scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, including a two-run homer by Jeff Van Houten, to tie the game. The UA and ASU bullpens battled to keep the game knotted at 5-5 over the next six innings, before ASU broke through with a run in the top of the 14^th and Brown’s two-run blast won it in the bottom of the frame ... UTPA (Feb. 18) ?- Arizona rapped out a season-high 20 hits and 18 runs in the three-game series opener ... Junior Trevor Crowe went 3 for 5 with two home runs and tied his career-high with six RBI in the win ... Jordan Brown hit his team-leading fourth HR of the season in the game ... Right-hander John Meloan struggled in his third start of the season (3.0 IP 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 6 K), but was bailed out on a career-high 10 strikeouts by reliever Sean Jarrett who earned his first career win over the final six innings ... UTPA (Feb. 19) ?- Jeff Van Houten’s three-run homer in the fifth inning gave Arizona a 4-2 lead as the Wildcats went on to ensure a series victory with an 8-2 win over the Broncs. .. Starter Kevin Guyette struck out a career-high-tying nine batters and did not give up an earned run over a season-high seven innings for his second win of the year ... UTPA (Feb. 20) ?- UTPA starter Dane Mason kept the potent Wildcat bats in check over eight solid innings as the Wildcats fell for the first time in 2005. Mason struck out six and scattered nine hits for his first win of the year. He stranded nine UA runners on base and twice worked out of bases-loaded jams in helping to shut out the Wildcats for the first time since March 18, 2004 ... Freshman Mike Koons (0-1) was charged with the loss after giving up three runs in just a third of an inning. 

Pac-10 Player of the Week Trevor Crowe : Junior outfielder Trevor Crowe was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week by the conference office on Tuesday. Crowe led all Arizona players with a .529 batting average, nine hits (including a double, a triple and two home runs), as well as a team-best eight RBI, five runs scored and a 1.059 slugging percentage against ASU and UTPA last week. He collected at least one hit in all four games to extend his team-best hitting streak to 18-straight games dating back to last season (eight in 2004, 10 in 2005) and also walked a team-high six times to help him to a .652 on-base percentage in the four games ... In Friday's series-opener at UTPA, Crowe tied his career-high with six RBI and hit both of his home runs for the week in the contest (3 for 5, three runs, six RBI, two HRs, BB in the game) ... The weekly honor was the second in Crowe’s three-year Arizona career.

9-0 Start Best Since 1999: Arizona started the 2005 season 9-0 which marked the best opening to a year for a Wildcat team since the 1999 squad went 13-0 to open. The current 9-1 record matches Andy Lopez’s first team at UA in 2002, which also opened the season 9-1 and went on to an 11-1 start.

Hitting Streaks Carry On: Junior Trevor Crowe (18-straight games) has hit safely in all 10 games this season to extend his carry-over eight-game hitting streak from 2004 ... Senior Jeff Van Houten is nipping at Crowe’s heals with a 17-game streak (seven to end 2004, all 10 in 2005) ... Junior Jordan Brown has at least one hit in all 10 games this season.

Donald Expected Back: Sophomore shortstop Jason Donald missed his first game ever at UA last Sunday with a jammed left thumb suffered in Arizona’s 8-2 win at UTPA on Saturday. The missed game snapped a streak of 73 consecutive starts for the second-year player. Prior to last Sunday, Donald had played in every inning in his Wildcat career. He is expected to return to his starting spot against ASU on Wednesday.

That’s One For You: The Arizona pitching staff has done a tremendous job of limiting opponents to just one base when they get a hit. Of the 62 base hits Arizona has given up this season, only 12 of them have gone for extra bases (19 percent). Opponents have hit 10 doubles, zero triples and just one home run in 87 2/3 innings against UA pitching this year. By contrast, 49 percent of Arizona’s hits have gone for two or more bases this year (54 of 110 hits). Arizona has hit 32 doubles, six triples and 16 home runs.

It’s Way Early, But...: The 2005 season is just underway, but the Wildcats have already made a mark in the Pac-10 stats. Below is a list of where UA ranks in the conference early this season.

A Year Later: Through the first 10 games last season, Arizona was 5-4-1 and was in the midst of what would become a five-game winless streak. The UA offense was mired in a slump and the pitching staff was not much better. Flash forward a year and the Wildcats are 9-1 with an offense that averages 11 runs per game, 14 hits, 3.2 doubles and 1.6 home runs per game and pitching staff with a better then 3-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio and a 2.15 ERA. A look at the first 10 games this season vs. the first 10 games in 2004:

Stat                              2004                2005                Difference Hitting Avg.                             .309                  .370                  +61 Runs                             70                     110                   +40 Hits                              112                   144                   +32 2B                                18                     32                     +14 3B                                7                      6                      -1 HR                               13                     16                     +3 RBI                              68                     99                     +31 BB                               44                     52                     +8 K                                 74                     55                     -19 SB                                9                      22                     +13 Pitching ERA                             5.67                  2.15                  -3.52 IP                                 92.0                  92.0                  Even Shutouts                        0                      2                      +2 Hits                              106                   62                     -44 Runs                             67                     32                     -35 Earned runs                  38                     22                     -16 BB                               38                     34                     -4 SO                               75                     114                   +39