The only way Arizona is can make the NCAA Tournament is by winning the Big 12’s automatic bid, but that also requires the Wildcats qualifying for the conference tournament. Only 12 of 14 schools that sponsor baseball will make the Big 12 Tournament, set for next month in Surprise.
And with six weekends left in the regular season, the UA is on the outside looking in.
Arizona (11-21, 3-9 Big 12) are currently tied for last in the conference with Houston and a game behind 12th-place Cincinnati. Four more
teams are two games ahead of the Wildcats, who have yet to win a series in league play.
“We have to do better on the weekends,” UA coach Chip Hale said after Wednesday’s win over New Mexico State.
The next opportunity begins Friday when Arizona opens a 3-game series against TCU (20-12, 7-5). The Horned Frogs were picked to win the Big 12 in the preseason, with Arizona second, but like with the UA injuries have affected their season.
Preseason all-conference pitcher Tommy LaPour, TCU’s Opening Day starter, hasn’t thrown since that first game because of a flexor strain, and all-conference two-way player Noah Franco only recently returned from an oblique strain.
Arizona has lost three position players to season-ending shoulder injuries, including starting left fielder Easton Breyfogle, and four pitchers have suffered shoulder injuries most notably closer Tony Pluta. A fifth pitcher, freshman Jack Lafflam, is out for the time being after leaving his last start March 31 though Hale said his MRI came up clean.
Injuries aside, both teams have disappointed at the plate and on the mound. The UA’s team batting average of .259 is last in the conference, with TCU 12th at .271, and both have ERAs over 6.50 in Big 12 play.
Arizona has hit better of late, averaging 6.5 runs in conference action as it has settled into a lineup. That includes redshirt freshman Jackson Forbes, who has taken over as the starting second baseman while also playing left field and DH.
Forbes is hitting .310 with four home runs and 21 RBI in just 20 games, his .549 slugging percentage tops on the team.
“I think it’s the guy that we recruited,” Hale said.
Forbes has a penchant for swinging at the first pitch, which he did in all four at-bats Wednesday. That tactic has paid off, as he’s recorded a hit in 15 of his 20 appearances and his first three homers came on the first pitch of an at-bat.
“I feel like a lot of pitchers are trying to get ahead first pitch, and I’m an aggressive hitter,” Forbes said. “I’m up there to swing the bat. I’m obviously going to take as many pitches as I can, but I’m trying to do damage, it’s kind of always been a part of who I am and it’s been working out for me.”
A staple in the lineup all season has been redshirt sophomore center fielder Carson McEntire. He leads the Wildcats with seven homers and 24 RBI but also has a team-high 40 strikeouts, which is why he’s remained in the bottom third of the order.
“He’s in there every night, which is good for him,” Hale said of McEntire, a transfer from Oregon State who made only 11 starts last season. “I think it’s good mentally he knows he’s going to be in there. Does he have some bad at-bats, so be it, but his power and speed and defense is coming out.”
As usual, Arizona’s pitching will be pushed to the limit this weekend, and not just by TCU. After three games in Fort Worth the Wildcats will fly to Phoenix and stay overnight before a Monday evening nonconference matchup with ASU. Who will be available for that last contest will depend on how the first three go, but the priority will be on the TCU games because of league standings implications.
“We’ll pitch everybody we need to to win and then figure it out, like we did tonight,” said Hale, who used six pitchers in a 7-inning game Wednesday.
Arizona’s starting pitchers have struggled as a whole in Big 12 play, with the trio of Owen Kramkowski, Smith Bailey and Luc Fladda allowing 60 runs (52 earned) in 62.1 innings. That’s added more strain on a thin bullpen, where seven relievers have already logged at least 10 appearances.
But a bright spot has emerged in junior right-hander Collin McKinney. The Friday night starter for most of last season, McKinney began 2026 starting on Sundays before getting moved to a hybrid weekday starter/weekend middle-inning guy, and the results have been positive.
McKinney retired all six batters he faced to open Wednesday’s win, this after throwing 2.1 scoreless innings of relief last Friday in the comeback win over ASU. He’s 1-5 with a 5.82 ERA but in his last four appearances he’s allowed only one earned run in 7.2 innings.
“There’s nothing really too much different about it, it’s getting out there and throwing a baseball,” McKinney said of his new role. “Knowing that you don’t have to go out there and pitch to the lineup three times, you can let your stuff go a little more and use all your pitches on some guys whenever.”
