Arizona baseball heads to BYU for weekend series as Big 12 slate enters 2nd half

Arizona Athletics Halfway through its first season in the Big 12, Arizona has a 10-5 record and is a game out of first place. That’s the same mark the Wildcats had at the midpoint of their final season in the Pac-12, when they went on to claim the regular season title as well as the conference tournament crown.What’s much different from a year ago is that Arizona (26-10) is also well-positioned to make the NCAA Tournament, something that wasn’t the case in 2024 even though it ended up getting in and hosted a regional.

The latest NCAA projection from D1Baseball has the UA as the No. 15 seed, hosting a regional that would include Oklahoma, USC and Utah Valley. Baseball America has Arizona headed to Los Angeles for a regional hosted by No.



14 seed (and former Pac-12 rival) UCLA. To have a chance to host for the second year in a row, Arizona must navigate a second half of the Big 12 schedule that includes three road series. The first starts a day early, as it visits BYU (18-16, 5-10) starting Thursday afternoon.

Weather and elevation could factor into the three games, as rain (and possibly snow) are in the forecast for Thursday and Friday. Aiding in the chances of all three games getting in is the fact that BYU’s Larry H. Miller Field has a heating system under the playing surface to help melt snow and ice.

The Cougars are just 6-6 at home this season, losing two of three to both West Virginia and UCF in Big 12 play. Arizona is 5-3 on the road, taking two of three at West Virginia and ASU. Outfield updateArizona played the first 16 games of this season with its Opening Day outfield of Easton Breyfogle in left, Aaron Walton in center and Brendan Summerhill in right.

Walton has held down his spot in the middle for all 36 games, but injuries have led to a revolving door on either side of him.Summerhill has missed the last 13 games while recovering from a fracture in his right hand, while Breyfogle has been in and out of the lineup while dealing with quad injuries. He exited Tuesday’s 14-4 win over Grand Canyon after one inning after feeling something in his leg.

“I think he just got nervous,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “We were very conservative because of the weekend, see if we can get him ready for this weekend.”Andrew Cain has helped fortify the outfield after moving from his corner infield role, and in his last eight starts he’s 12 for 30 with two home runs and eight RBI.

TJ Adams and Gunner Geile have also been used to hold down the fort until Summerhill returns, which might be right around the corner.“We’ve got a lot of talented guys out there,” Walton said. “It’s not a ton that I have to do, just us working as a team out there and backing each other up.

”Hale said Summerhill would accompany Arizona to Provo as a “rehab player” but would not be part of the 30-man series roster. “We’re going to work him and run him and make sure he’s hopefully ready for (UT-Arlington) on Wednesday,” Hale said. “If not, he hopefully can be ready for Texas Tech.

”Summerhill, who was hitting .409 with an OPS of 1.156 before his injury, has been swinging a bat at hard balls but has yet to start throwing.

He’d likely start out at DH before moving back to right field.Leadoff lifeWhen Summerhill returns he’ll take back the leadoff spot in the order where he was so effective, getting on base 50 percent of the time with 16 walks against only 13 strikeouts in 110 plate appearances.In his absence the UA has used three different players at the top of the order, and they’ve combined for a .

241 batting average and .349 on-base percentage. Garen Caulfield was 7 for 28 with six walks but he’s been scuffling at the plate and was moved back down in the order, while Walton is 5 of 21 and has struck out just once.

“Just go out there and pass it on to the next guy,” said Walton, who has batted 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th this season.The goal is to get someone on base before Mason White, who has mostly been in the No. 3 spot but bats second when Walton is at leadoff.

Since Summerhill’s injury, White is hitting .321 (he’s at .315 for the season) with three homers and 13 RBI.

Pitching in ProvoArizona has the top ERA in the conference (3.76) in Big 12 games, almost a full run better than TCU (4.73).

while BYU is at the bottom at 8.64. The Wildcats have allowed only 16 home runs all season, six in Big 12 play, but Provo’s elevation of 4,551 is double that of Tucson.

Arizona’s weekend starters—Colin McKinney, Owen Kramkowski and Smith Bailey—have yielded only seven homers this season, three in Big 12 play, with McKinney yet to allow one to leave the yard in 36 innings. The Wildcats only used four relievers last weekend against Oklahoma State but they’ll bring a dozen on the trip. Besides the main leverage guys (Casey Hintz, Garrett Hicks and Tony Pluta) the most valuable member of that bullpen might be senior right-hander Matthew Martinez.

Martinez, who has a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings after throwing 1.1 scoreless against Grand Canyon to get the win, has the best change-up on the team and has helped Arizona overcome its lack of effective lefty relievers.

“He is almost like a left-handed pitcher,” Hale said of Martinez. “His changeup neutralizes left-handed hitters.”Martinez said he has thrown his change since high school but it really came on while at South Mountain CC, so much so that he throws it about 75 percent of the time.

“Over time, it honestly just became my go to pitch, my bread and my butter,” he said. “And after that, just, I’ve leaned on it. It’s just kind of a feel pitch, and once you find it, can’t lose it.

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