No. 12 Arizona Hosts Utah for Three-Game Series

TUCSON, Ariz. — XXX

A complete weekend preview is below.
 

Leading Off...

• No. 12 Arizona continues an eight-game homestand with a weekend series against the Utah Utes this Friday–Sunday. The Wildcats are seeking their sixth consecutive Pac-12 series victory. All three games will be broadcast on Wildcats Radio 1290 and available to view online via Arizona Live Stream.
• The Wildcats lead the all-time series against the Utes, 59-18, with games dating back to 1952. In their most recent meeting Arizona won a three-game series, 2-1, in Tucson in March 2019 on final scores of 10-21, 8-0, and 18-7. The Wildcats trail the matchup over the last five years, 3-9, and over the last 10 years, 11-13.
• Arizona has scored at least one run in 147 straight games. They have not suffered a shutout loss since falling 1-0 at Washington on March 17, 2017. Their 147-game scoring streak is the longest active scoring streak in the Pac-12.
• The Cats currently lead the Pac-12 in runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBI, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, and extra-base hits. They are second in the conference in home runs.
• Arizona is currently fifth in the nation in scoring, with an average of 8.6 runs per game. Their 325 runs are second-most in Division I, behind only TCU (330).
• True freshmen Jacob Berry (11) and Daniel Susac (9) have combined to hit 20 home runs this year, the most swatted by any duo of true freshmen teammates in America. Berry's 11 long balls are tied for the most among Division I true freshmen.

SOME SERIES THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats remain at Hi Corbett Field to continue an eight-game homestand with a three-game conference series against the Utah Utes this weekend...All three games will be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM with Brian Jeffries on the call and available to watch online via Arizona Live Stream...The Wildcats lead the all-time series against the Utes, 59-18, with games dating back to 1952...In their most recent meeting Arizona won a three-game series, 2-1, in Tucson in March 2019 on final scores of 10-21, 8-0, and 18-7...While Arizona commands a dominant lead in the all-time series against Utah, the Utes have carried the momentum in recent years with a 9-3 edge over the last five seasons and a 13-11 advantage over the last decade...Since the final stretch of the 2019 season, the Wildcats have rolled to the tune of an impressive 50-17 (.746) record with 14 series victories...Over that same stretch, Arizona has won eight of their last nine Pac-12 series...Part of that is the Wildcats current streak of five consecutive conference series victories; Arizona has logged series wins over No. 16 Oregon, Arizona State, California, Washington State, and USC...Arizona enters the weekend ranked as a consensus Top 15 team by all five major national polls, checking in at No. 10 from Baseball America, the NCBWA, and Collegiate Baseball, No. 12 from D1Baseball, and No. 13 from the USA Today Coaches Poll...The Wildcats are also No. 9 in the RPI against a No. 4 strength of schedule...Arizona's offense continues it's years-long trend of dominating the Pac-12 — the Wildcats currently lead the conference in runs, hits, double, triples, RBI, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, and extra-base hits while placing second on the circuit in home runs...Their dominance extends beyond the Pac-12; Arizona is currently fifth in the nation in scoring, with an average of 8.6 runs per game, and their 325 total runs are second-most in Division I...Utah is led by 18th-year head coach, Bill Kinneberg, who has steered the Utes to an overall mark of 365-502-1 during his time in Salt Lake City...Utah went 2-2 last week, with a midweek victory over Utah Valley (14-1) and a series-salvaging Sunday victory over Arizona State (7-6) after dropping their first two contests against the Sun Devils.

STREAKONOMICS: Four Wildcats currently sport six-game hit streaks, the longest on the team. Branden Boissiere, Kobe Kato, Nik McClaughry, and Daniel Susac have all notched a hit in six straight games — for Susac, six games is a career-long hit streak. Outfielder Donta' Williams leads the team with an active 24-game on-base streak that dates back to March 13 versus Air Force. Over his last 24 games, Williams has reached base in exactly half of his plate appearances, posting a .500 OBP. During that stretch he has hit .337 (29x86) with 29 runs scored, 12 extra-base hits, 24 RBI, 16 walks, and 13 HBP. This year, Williams has been hit by pitches 15 times, tied for ninth-most among all Division I players.

BERRY BOMBS: Arizona true freshman Jacob Berry has proven himself to be one of the best young sluggers in the nation this year. Through 37 games, Berry has swatted 13 doubles, two triples, and 11 home runs to compile an eye-popping .755 slugging percentage that leads the Pac-12 and ranks 11th in the nation. Berry's 11 home runs this year are the most by an Arizona freshman since Shelley Duncan, the program's all-time home run leader, sent out 20 during his first collegiate campaign in 1999. Of his 11 long balls, five have come during Pac-12 play, putting Berry just three conference home runs shy of tying Duncan's freshman Pac-12 HR record of eight. Through a national lens, Berry's 11 home runs this year are tied for 22nd most in the country, and second-most among true freshmen.

CAST AWAY: Arizona's bullpen has excelled at stranding inherited baserunners this year — as a group they have combined to inherit 129 baserunners and allowed only 47 of them (36.4%) to come around and score. Two relievers — senior right-hander Preston Price and freshman southpaw Riley Cooper — have been particularly adept at leaving baserunners longing. Price has inherited a team-leading 22 baserunners and only allowed three (13.6%) of them to score. Price has inherited at least one baserunner in 10-of-12 appearances this year and has been saddled with multiple inherited runners in 7-of-12 outings. Twice this season — March 5 vs. Oklahoma and March 26 vs. Oregon — Price has inherited a bases-loaded situation and did not allow a single run to score. Cooper's 20 inherited runners are second-most on the team and only six (27.3%) of them have scored.

BABY BOMBERS: True freshmen Jacob Berry (11) and Daniel Susac (9) have combined to hit 20 home runs this year, making them the most prolific true freshman power duo in the nation this season. Two other schools in the country (Texas Tech, UT Martin) have two players classified as freshmen each with 8+ home runs, but none of those other duos consist of two first-year freshmen. Berry's 11 home runs this season are the second-most in Division I among true freshmen. Berry's extensive accomplishments have earned him a pair of national recognitions with selections to the midseason watch lists for the Golden Spikes Award and the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award.

MILESTONE MEN: Several Wildcats are quickly approaching or have recently reached significant career milestones:

• Jacob Blas (108), Ryan Holgate (115), and Branden Boissiere (115) all recently picked up their 100th career base hits. 
• Donta' Williams has been hit by pitch 38 times in his career, 5th most all-time in program history. He is one HBP shy of tying Jason Donald (1995-98) for fourth all-time.
• Donta' Williams (91) and Ryan Holgate (83) are both fewer than 20 RBI shy of collecting 100 career RBI.
• Vince Vannelle has 10 career saves and is now tied for 8th all-time on Arizona's career saves leaderboard. He is three saves shy of moving into a tie for 6th all-time with Joe Estes (1983-86) and Carlos Rico (1991-92).
• Quinn Flanagan is one win shy of 10 career wins at Arizona.

LEADOFF LEGENDS: As a team, the Wildcats have combined to reach base in nearly half of their at-bats leading off an inning. In 326 chances this year, Arizona batters have reached base 151 times (.463). In leadoff situations the offense has combined to hit .321 (85x265) with a .448 on-base percentage, 47 walks, and 23 extra-base hits. First baseman Branden Boissiere has reached base in 23-of-36 (.639) opportunities as a leadoff batter and hits .500 (14x28) in those scenarios. Second baseman Kobe Kato has reached safely as a leadoff batter 18-of-30 times (.600) and is hitting a team-best .538 (14x26) when opening an inning.

BULL(PEN) MARKET: Arizona's bullpen has put together a standout performance in April, combining with the Wildcats offense to post an 11-4 record this month. Through 15 games in April, the Cats bullpen has gone 6-1 with a 3.38 ERA and six saves. Most notable among the individual bullpen performances this month is RHP Quinn Flanagan, who has made five appearances without allowing an earned run. Flanagan has allowed just six hits and three unearned runs across 9.1 innings of work while striking out eight and limiting opposing hitters to a .167 batting average.