Wildcats Face Three Ranked Opponents at Astros Foundation College Classic - University of Arizona Athletics (2025)

HOUSTON, Texas— The Arizona Wildcats (5-3) carry a five-game win streak into a challenging weekend at the Astros Foundation College Classic where they will face off against No. 1 Texas A&M (5-2), No. 18 Mississippi State (6-2), and No. 3 Tennessee (8-0).

All three games will be played at Daikin Park, the home of the two-time World Series Champion Houston Astros. Tickets are available for purchase HERE.

Arizona will play the Aggies at 6:05 p.m. MST on Friday night, the Bulldogs at 2:05 p.m. MST on Saturday afternoon, and the Volunteers at 9:05 a.m. MST on Sunday morning.

The Wildcats have won five straight games, including a midweek contest against Rice on Wednesday, to push their record above .500. A red-hot offense has fueled much of the Wildcats recent success, with the team boasting a .380 batting average over that five-game stretch.

For more, a complete series preview is below.

How to Watch

All three games this weekend will be televised by Space City Home Network and available on the channel in the entirety of the Astros five-state viewing area. Twoof the three games at the tournament will be on the primary channel, with Saturday'sgames being aired live on the Space City Home Network alternate channel. Additionally, all nine games will also be streamed live without a blackout or paywall on Astros.com and on the Astros X, Facebook and YouTube channels. Nationally, MLB Network will air two of the Wildcats games this weekend on their network outside of the Astros viewing area; Arizona's Friday game against Texas A&M will air on MLBN at 10 PM MST, while Sunday's game against Tennessee will air on MLBN at 8 PM MST.

Leading Off...

• The Arizona Wildcats visit Daikin Park in Houston for the Astros Foundation College Classic where they will face off against No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 18 Mississippi State, and No. 3 Tennessee.
• All three games this weekend will be televised by Space City Home Network in the entirety of the Astros five-state viewing area and steamed live without a blackout or paywall on Astros.com and on the Astros X, Facebook, and YouTube channels.
• Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Pat Combs (analyst) will have the call for the Wildcats Friday and Saturday games, while Gerald Sanchez (play-by-play) and Combs will call the Sunday game.
• Arizona has played Texas A&M 46 times previously (22-23-1), Mississippi State 17 times previously (6-11), and Tennessee once (1-0) previously.
• INF Mathis Meurant was named the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week on Monday morning. He posted a 2.220 OPS with a pair of home runs in a weekend sweep of San Diego.
• Arizona is riding a five-game win streak, during which the offense has hit .380/.480/.656 while the pitching staff has posted an impressive 3.29 ERA with 37 strikeouts to just seven walks.
• INF Mason White hit two home runs over opening weekend in Arlington, giving him 31 career home runs and moving him into a tie for 10th in program history. He is one HR shy of moving up the leaderboard into a tie for ninth (Moises Duran, 32 HR, 2001-04).
• Head coach Chip Hale — a standout alumni and Arizona's all-time leader in games played, hits, and total bases — enters his fourth year leading his alma mater. Hale has led the Wildcats to NCAA Tournament berths and 30+ wins in each of his first three seasons in charge in Tucson.

SOME WEEKEND THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats participate in their second major tournament of the season, taking on No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 18 Mississippi State, and No. 3 Tennessee at the Astros Foundation College Classic at Daikin Park in Houston this weekend...Brett Dolan (PxP) and Pat Combs (Analyst) will have the call of Arizona's Friday and Saturday games, while Gerald Sanchez (PxP) and Combs will have the call of Sunday's game...Arizona has played Texas A&M 46 times previously (22-23-1), Mississippi State 17 times previously (6-11), and Tennessee once (1-0) previously...INF Mathis Meurant was named the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week on Monday morning; he posted a 2.220 OPS with a pair of home runs in a weekend sweep of San Diego...Arizona is riding a five-game win streak, during which the offense has hit .380/.480/.656 while the pitching staff has posted an impressive 3.29 ERA with 37 strikeouts to just seven walks...Arizona remains ranked No. 24 by Perfect Game and received votes in both the NCBWA Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll...Texas A&M is led by first-year head coach Michael Earley...Mississippi State is led by seventh-year head coach Chris Lemonis, who has steered the Bulldogs to a 213-118 (.644) record, three NCAA Tournament appearances, two College World Series appearances, and one NCAA National Championship (2021) during his tenure in Starkville...Tennessee is led by eighth-year head coach Tony Vitello, who has accumulated a 303-112 (.730) record, five NCAA Tournament appearances, three College World Series appearances, and one NCAA National Championship (2024) during his time in Knoxville.

STREAKONOMICS: Outfielder Brendan Summerhill and infielder Maddox Mihalakis both own active five-game hit streaks, the longest active streaks on the team. Both players have a hit in each game of the Wildcats current five-game win streak; Mihalakis is hitting .400 (8-for-20) with five runs, two doubles, one triple, and one RBI during that stretch, while Summerhill is hitting .391 (9-for-23) with four runs, one double, three triples, and seven RBI during that same stretch. Summerhill and fellow outfielder Aaron Walton lead the team with eight-game on-base streaks, having reached base safely in all eight games this year. Six other players have active on-base streaks of five or more games. The Wildcats longest hit streak and on-base streak last season both belong to Summerhill, who posted a 12-game hit streak and a 33-game on-base streak during the 2024 campaign.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!: Senior infielder Garen Caulfield, senior infielder Tommy Splaine, junior right-handed pitcher Casey Hintz, and senior right-handed pitcher Matthew Martinez have been named Arizona Baseball's 2025 Team Captains. They were all voted on by their teammates to lead the clubhouse this season. The quartet of upperclassmen have all been major contributors on the field, leaders in the clubhouse, and exemplary men off the field during their time in Tucson.

CATS COACHES: The Wildcats are led this season by fourth-year head coach Chip Hale — he was hired on July 5, 2021. Hale, the Wildcats all-time leader in games played, hits, and total bases during his time in Tucson from 1984-87, brought nearly two decades of professional coaching experience to Arizona. During his collegiate career, Hale helped steer the 1986 Arizona Wildcats to their third NCAA National Championship. His professional coaching career was highlighted by a stint as the manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2015-16) and a World Series championship with the Washington Nationals in 2019. Hale is once again joined by assistant coaches Toby DeMello, Trip Couch, and Kevin Vance. DeMello, who joined the Wildcats from Sacramento State in 2022, was promoted from volunteer assistant into a full-time coaching role after his second season in Tucson. Since arriving, he has helped craft one of the most dangerous offenses in America, one that has averaged 7.15 runs per game and batted .289 under his guidance. Couch, one of the nation's top recruiting coordinators, joined the Wildcats in the same role in 2022 after splitting the previous 11 years between Houston and South Carolina. Across his decades of collegiate coaching experience, Couch has made 14 NCAA postseason appearances, developed 15 All-Americans, and directly coached 42 MLB Draft selections. The Wildcats newest full-time staff addition was assistant coach Kevin Vance, who arrived in Tucson prior to the 2024 season to develop the Arizona pitching staff. Vance's staff led the entire nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and BB/9 rate last year while dropping their ERA over a run and a half, the 20th best improvement in the country.

TUCSON'S OWN: Infielder and Tucson native Mason White has put together back-to-back successful seasons for his hometown Wildcats, and has already slugged his way into the Arizona Baseball record books. With 10 home runs as a true freshman, a team-leading 19 last year as a sophomore, and two more so far this year, White is now tied for 10th in program history with 31 dingers. In two-plus years he has averaged one home run every 15.4 at-bats, putting him on pace to finish with approximately 44 career home runs and rank second all-time for his hometown program.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION: Arizona infielder Mathis Meurant, who was born and raised in France, is the lone player on the Wildcats roster from outside the United States. With assistance from Jeff Duda (@INTLBaseball24 on Twitter) and the French Baseball and Softball Federation it has been confirmed that, upon his Wildcat debut on opening weekend in Arlington, Meurant became the first French player at the Power Conference level in NCAA history. Meurant originally hails from Vaires-sur-Marne, a small town just east of Paris. Follwing a breakout performance in week two against San Diego in which he posted a 2.200 OPS, Meurant was selected as the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week, making him the first Arizona Baseball player to recieve a Big 12 weekly award.

FRENCH PHENOM: Arizona Baseball standout third baseman Mathis Meurant was selected as a Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week, the conference announced on Monday afternoon. Meurant officially goes down as Arizona Baseball's first ever winner of a Big 12 weekly award; he shared last week's honor with Kansas State starting pitcher Lincoln Sheffield. Across three starts last week, all of which came at third base during the Wildcats weekend sweep of San Diego, Meurant hit .625 (5-for-8) with seven runs scored, one double, two home runs, and five RBI. His red-hot performance at the plate produced a team-leading 2.200 OPS. Meurant, the first French born and raised player in NCAA power conference history, swatted home runs in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. Meurant hit safely, scored multiple runs, and drove in at least one RBI in every game over the weekend. In addition to his performance at the plate, the third baseman played flawless defense at the hot corner with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

3,000 CLUB: Arizona Baseball is one of just 10 programs in the history of college baseball to win 3,000 games. As it currently stands, Arizona is the 10th all-time winningest program in the history of the sport. The Wildcats logged their 3,000th victory with a 3-2 win over UCLA on March 29, 2024. Across time as a player (1984-87) and as a coach (2022-present), Arizona head coach Chip Hale has contributed to over 8% (265) of the program's all-time wins.

THE AMERICANS: Two Wildcat juniors, outfielder Brendan Summerhill and infielder Mason White, have both earned Preseason All-America nods from multiple outlets. The two combined to produce an outsized majority of the Arizona offense last season, and both are primed to feature heavily in what looks to be a veteran lineup in 2025. Summerhill and White combined for 105 runs scored, 110 hits, 63 extra-base hits, and 124 RBI. White also earned Freshman All-America recognition from Collegiate Baseball following his debut campaign in 2023.

AMONG THE BEST: Five standout Wildcats were recognized in recent weeks by D1Baseball as they organized their preseason position rankings. The group is led by Preseason All-Americans Mason White, who was tabbed as the seventh-best shortstop in the country, and Brendan Summerhill, who was selected as the twelfth-best outfielder in the nation. Second baseman Garen Caulfield (second base), Casey Hintz (relief pitcher), and Tony Pluta (relief pitcher) were all also honored with spots on their lists.

MIDAS TOUCH: Arizona Baseball outfielder Brendan Summerhill was honored with one of 55 spots on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, USA Baseball announced earlier this month. Summerhill is the first Wildcat to earn a spot on the preseason watch list since outfielder Chase Davis landed on the 2023 edition. He is the 12th Arizona player to be named to the preseason watch list since its inclusion in the awards process in 2008, and the third developed by head coach Chip Hale (Davis 2023, Daniel Susac 2022). Summerhill, a junior, has logged two-plus seasons and 88 games in an Arizona uniform and posted a .315 career batting average. The Chicago native enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign last year, leading the team in both batting average (.324) and on-base percentage (.399) en route to earning Pac-12 All-Conference honors. Summerhill contributed to the Wildcats 2024 Pac-12 Championship season in all facets of the game, scoring 50 runs, slugging 32 extra-base hits, driving in 59 RBI, stealing seven bases, and playing strong defense. The Golden Spikes Award will announce a midseason watch list on April 3, followed by a selection of semifinalists and finalists. The 2025 Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced in June.

BIG CONFERENCE, BIG HONORS: Arizona infielder Mason White and outfielder Brendan Summerhill both earned spots on the Preseason All-Big 12 team. Players are nominated for, and voted onto, the Preseason All-Big 12 team by the league's 14 head coaches. At the same time, the Wildcats were selected to finish second in the 2025 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll with four first place votes, marking their highest selection since the 2021 team was picked to finish second in the 2021 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll. Arizona will face the teams that finished ranked directly ahead of (Oklahoma State) and behind (TCU) them in the poll at home this season. The complete 2025 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll can be found on the right side of page three of these notes.

ON AGAIN, ON AGAIN: Outfielder Aaron Walton has reached base safely in all eight of the Wildcats games this season, and has successfully earned his way on base 22 times for an average of 2.75 times per game. Walton's .611 OBP is currently tied for the 40th best mark among all Division I players this season. Among those 22 times on base, six have come via being by pitch; his six HBP drawn are tied for the 15th most in the nation and tied for the second most in the Big 12.