Husky Baseball: Arizona Preview
April 20th –22nd at Husky Ballpark
Husky Record: 19-15
Husky Home Record: 11-7
University of Arizona
Location: Tucson, AZ
Mascot: Wildcats
Enrolment: 37,000
Conference: Pacific-12 Conference
Coach: Andy Lopez, 11th season
National Ranking: 19th (RPI)
Record: 24-12
Road Record: 5-5
PAC-12 Record: 10-5
2011 Record against Huskies: 3-0
Preview: After a stretch where the Dawgs won just one of nine games, they have finally put together a winning streak of two games. Although they are one of the best teams in the nation, the Wildcats bring a three game losing streak of their own into Seattle.
Arizona is a dangerous team with accomplishments such as sweeping Stanford this season. By simply looking at stats, their offense does not look powerful due to their low homerun totals. However, the lacking amount of homeruns hit by Arizona is a result of the pitcher friendly home standium of Hi Corbett Field which measures 366 feet down the left field line. The large field results in high amounts of doubles and triples instead of homeruns. While Washington has nearly twice as many round-trippers this season, Arizona leads the extra-base hit category 95 to 74. Arizona also has six starters with averages about .300.
Aggressiveness is also a key facet to the Wildcat offense. They lead the Pac-12 in stolen bases with 51. Arizona averages over two stolen base attempts per game, so expect to see them challenging the arms of Washington’s catchers.