UW Embarks to Tucson for Series With No. 13 Arizona

SEATTLE -- The Washington Huskies (17-24, 3-15) remain on the road in conference play this weekend as they head to Tucson to take on the No. 13 Arizona Wildcats (32-13, 16-8) for three games at Hi Corbett Field. The Huskies are looking to bounce back after two straight sweeps, while the Wildcats recently dropped a three-game set against Stanford.
 

Scouting the Opposition

Arizona at a Glance: The high-scoring Wildcats have won six of their eight Pac-12 series this season, with the only two losses coming in three-game road sets against ranked programs in UCLA and Stanford. They have scored double-digit runs 20 times and have put up 20 runs on multiple occasions, including a 20-2 win in their latest series against Stanford.  

Man in Charge: Jay Johnson is in his sixth season as the head coach at Arizona. Johnson has had a winning campaign in every season with the Wildcats and brought them to the College World Series finals in his first year in 2016.

By the Numbers: Arizona is second in the country with a .328 team batting average and is scoring 8.8 runs per game, with seven Wildcats batting over .300 on the season. Jacob Berry leads the charge, batting .401 with a 1.230 OPS and is tied with Daniel Susac for the team lead with 53 RBI. Susac's 12 home runs also lead the team.

On the mound, Arizona has a team ERA of 4.52. Chase Silseth (7-1, 4.80 ERA) and Garrett Irvin (4-2, 3.90 ERA) have each started 12 games for the Wildcats and will start on Friday and Saturday. Chandler Murphy (5-0, 4.30 ERA) and TJ Nichols (4-3, 6.28 ERA) have combined to start another 15 games, but have also pitched out of the bullpen.
 

Husky Baseball Notes

Huskies on the Leaderboards: Braiden Ward currently leads the Pac-12 with both 29 stolen bases and 16 hit-by-pitches. He is tied for third and 12th in those categories nationally. Ramon Bramasco is also second in the Pac-12 lead and ninth in the country with nine sacrifice bunts. As a team, UW leads the conference with 51 steals. On the mound, just one team in the Pac-12 has walked fewer batters than UW (137). Nationally, the Huskies are 31st in BB/9, with 3.31.

April Improvements: The month of April saw the Huskies turn up the offense as a team, with a couple of individual players standing out as well.  Will Simpson (.443) and Ramon Bramasco (.349) both batted well over the .300 mark, while Simpson also drove in 20 runs in just 15 games. Braiden Ward stole 12 bases in those 15 games as well. On the mound, Stefan Raeth (1.46), Adam Bloebaum (2.00) and Dylan Lamb (2.45) all improved their respective ERAs. 

Youngsters Producing: Freshmen Will Simpson and Cole Miller are first and third on the team in RBIs with 30 and 14, while freshmen have also combined for 14 of the team's 17 total home runs on the season. True freshman Michael Brown is second on the team in home runs and hit another long-ball against in the team's series against No. 11 Oregon. Adam Bloebaum has started the last four Sunday games and had a 2.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched in April. Michael Snyder has started the last five games at third base and has hits in all five of those contests. 

JUCO Made: A large number of Huskies can be traced back to the junior college ranks. Both UW starters Logan Gerling (Tacoma CC) and Tyson Guerrero (Lower Columbia CC) come from JuCo. Stefan Raeth, who leads the team with a 1.86 ERA is a product of Los Medanos CC.  Team-leader in saves, Davis Delorefice, came to UW after a season at Orange Coast College. Ramon Bramasco (Cerritos College) and Gabe Smith (Everett CC) are other notable Huskies with junior college experience.

Ward: On Base and Stealing: Junior Braiden Ward cracked the Huskies' top-five list for career stolen bases last season and currently sits in third-place all time with 84 swipes. Up next for Ward is Joe Trippy in second with 85.  Ward led the Pac-12 with 10 steals in the shortened 2020 season and became the first Conference player to lead the league in stolen bases three times. He currently leads the Pac-12 and is third in the country with 29. He is also tied for ninth in the country with 16 hit-by-pitches.
 

Series Schedule