The Arizona baseball team notched its best victory of the season against rival Arizona State, but still has yet to win a series in Big 12 play.
After rallying to defeat the 25th-ranked Sun Devils on Friday to even their three-game set, the Wildcats dropped the finale Saturday to suffer their fourth straight series setback.
ASU (23-9, 7-5) clearly was motivated by the events of Friday night, jumping to a 6-0 first-inning lead and cruising to a 15-6 triumph at Hi Corbett Field.
UA starter Luc Fladda was charged with nine earned runs in 2⅓ innings. The Wildcats (10-21, 3-9) lost despite two home runs by junior outfielder Andrew Cain, who went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Arizona also got a home run from Maddox Mihalakis, his first of the season.
ASU first baseman Dominic Smaldino went 4 for 5 with a home run and six RBIs.
Arizona's Andrew Cain celebrates after advancing to second following his two-RBI single in the seventh inning against ASU on Friday, April 3, 2026, at Hi Corbett Field. Cain hit two home runs in the series finale the next day.
Cain and Mihalakis played key roles in Arizona’s 7-4 comeback win Friday. The Wildcats trailed 4-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, when they scored seven runs. Cain and Mihalakis both notched two-RBI singles to spark the rally.
Arizona scored all of its runs against the ASU bullpen. Sun Devils starter Cole Carlon was dominant, allowing six hits and striking out 12 batters in six shutout innings. In his past two outings vs. the Wildcats, the junior left-hander has fanned 22 batters in 10⅓ scoreless frames.
UA starter Smith Bailey kept Arizona within striking distance, allowing four runs (two earned) in five innings. The Wildcats committed three errors behind him.
Right-hander Collin McKinney threw 2⅓ scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season. Garrett Hicks pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.
Arizona's Owen Kramkowski delivers a pitch against ASU in the opening game of their series Thursday, April 2, 2026, at Hi Corbett Field.
ASU won the opener 6-4 Thursday. The score was tied, 3-3, entering the seventh, when the Sun Devils plated three runs. Two were charged to UA starter Owen Kramkowski, although only one was earned; the other went on reliever Patrick Morris’ tab.
UA catcher Beau Sylvester went 4 for 4. ASU star sophomore Landon Harrison went 3 for 5 and finished the weekend 6 for 15 with a home run, three RBIs and four runs scored.
Arizona is scheduled to host New Mexico State on Wednesday before a three-game series at TCU Friday-Sunday. The Wildcats then face the Sun Devils again in a nonconference game on Monday, April 13, in Phoenix.
Inside pitch
– Arizona is tied for last place in the Big 12 with Houston. Twelve of the 14 teams that play baseball in the conference qualify for the May 19-23 Big 12 Tournament at Surprise Stadium.
– Friday’s game had a season-high attendance of 5,011. The announced attendance Saturday was 3,096, although not nearly that many fans were in the stands because of the UA men’s basketball team’s Final Four matchup vs. Michigan.
– Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita threw out the first pitch Friday. He and many of his teammates signed autographs before the game.
