Pac-12 champion Arizona received the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face a familiar foe Friday night.
The UA will open the Tucson Regional against GCU at 6 p.m. Friday at Hi Corbett Field.
The Wildcats (36-21) and Lopes (34-23) square off multiple times annually. GCU took two of three from Arizona this season. The Lopes made the field as the WAC regular-season champions because Tarleton State, which won the WAC Tournament, is in its final year of reclassifying from Division II to Division I.
The other teams in the Tucson Regional are Conference USA champion Dallas Baptist (44-13) and Big 12 at-large West Virginia (32-22). They will play in the regional opener at noon Friday.
Arizona lost to Dallas Baptist 4-3 on March 1 at the Frisco College Baseball Classic in Frisco, Texas. Future conference rival WVU, featuring projected top-10 MLB Draft pick JJ Wetherholt, came to Hi Corbett in February 2023 and took two of three from the Wildcats.
Here's the regional schedule:
Friday May 31
Game 1: West Virginia vs. Dallas Baptist, noon, ESPN2
Game 2: Arizona vs. Grand Canyon, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Saturday, June 1
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1 p.m., TV TBA
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m., TV TBA
Sunday, June 2
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, noon, TV TBA
Game 6: Game 5 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m., TV TBA
Monday, June 3 (if necessary)
Game 7: Same as Game 6, time TBA, TV TBA
For information about tickets, click here.
Tommy Splaine, Arizona's latest walk-off hero, meets with the media after producing the winning hit for the Wildcats in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)
