An old Pac-12 foe, a World Series nemesis and a team that beat the Wildcats pretty handily this season
Arizona is back in the College World Series for the first time since 2021, which for fans may seem like a long time but compared to most of the field it isn’t.
Only Arkansas (2022) and LSU (2023) have been to Omaha more recently than the Wildcats, while UCLA hasn’t been there since 2013 and Murray State is making its first appearance in school history.
But those teams are on the other side of the CWS bracket, and Arizona wouldn’t face any of them until the championship series. To get that far, the UA has to best a trio of qualifiers that include two of the last 10 national champions and one that pretty handily beat the Wildcats earlier this season.
Arizona (44-19) heads to Omaha with the lowest batting average of any CWS team, at .288, and also ranks last in runs per game (6.6). The Wildcats’ ERA of 4.82 is sixth-best, but they’re third-best in walks allowed per nine innings (3.3) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.81).
Here’s a look at the teams Arizona must contend with on its side of the College World Series bracket:
No. 8 seed Oregon State Beavers
- Record: 47-14-1
- Batting average: .292 (6th among CWS teams)
- ERA: 4.30 (4th)
- Last CWS appearance: 2018 (won national title)
Overview
Oregon State was one of the schools left behind by the dissolution of the Pac-12, but because of its baseball pedigree—and a bit of cockiness—it opted to play an independent schedule this season. That resulted in the Beavers playing more than half of their regular season games on the road or at neutral sites in order to boost their resume, and it worked, as they got a national seed and the right to host both regionals and Super Regionals.
That homefield advantage came in handy after dropping the first regional game to Saint Mary’s, as OSU had sellout crowds behind it as it won four in a row by a combined score of 50-6. The Beavers then beat No. 9 Florida State in three games, hitting five homers in a 14-10 win on Sunday night.
OSU has a 46-44 all-time record against Arizona, including 6-4 against Chip Hale-coached Wildcat teams. But the UA won the last—and arguably most important—meeting last May when it walked off the Beavers to claim the final Pac-12 regular season title.
The Beavers are great at drawing free passes, averaging nearly seven walks and hit batters per game, and also have the most power on this side of the bracket with 103 homers of which 74 come from five players.
Players to know
- IF Aiva Arquette: Arquette was a menace for Arizona to deal with when he was at Washington and he remains a nuisance with OSU. The junior is batting .354 with 18 homers and 65 RBI and in the postseason has hit at a .388 clip with 11 runs scored out.
- OF Gavin Turley: The younger brother of former Arizona 1B Noah Turley, Gavin is the OSU career leader in homers (52) and RBI (186) in just three seasons. As a junior he’s hitting .346 with 19 bombs and 66 RBI and in his career he’s 7 of 16 against the UA.
- RHP Dax Whitney: A 6-foot-5 freshman from Blackfoot, Idaho, Whitney’s 111 strikeouts in 71.1 innings are most in Division I among first-year pitchers. He has five games of 10 or more Ks, including both postseason starts, but has only made it through five innings in seven of 16 starts because of high pitch counts.
No. 13 seed Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
- Record: 53-11
- Batting average: .290 (7th among CWS teams)
- ERA: 3.23 (1st)
- Last CWS appearance: 2016 (won national title)
Overview
Coastal Carolina became a national darling in 2016 during its run to the CWS title, unfortunately at Arizona’s expense, and since then the Chanticleers have remained one of the top non-power programs in college baseball. They’ve hosted two of the last three years but this was the first time getting to the Supers since that championship push.
A relatively easy regional was followed by an impressive 2-game sweep at No. 4 Auburn, becoming the first team to qualify for Omaha.
Pitching is the name of the game for the Chants, who have three starters with ERAs of 3.24 or lower as well as a seemingly endless supply of relievers who are hard to hit. What’s not hard to hit, apparently, are Coastal’s batters, as they have drawn a ridiculous 170 hit by pitches including five or more on 10 occasions.
Players to know
- OF Sebastian Alexander: A 5th-year senior who had previous stops at Kent State and Phoenix College, Alexander is saving his best for last with a .320 average to go with 10 homers, 53 RBI and 27 steals in 32 attempts. He’s also been plunked 17 times, which is amazingly only tied for third-most (3B Walker Mitchell has taken 31 for the team) on the roster.
- RHP Cameron Flukey: A 6-foot-6 sophomore, Flukey has the “worst” ERA of Coastal’s three main starters at 3.24 but he makes up for it by striking out 106 in 91.2 innings with only 21 walks. He is expected to be whom Arizona will have to face in the CWS opener.
- RHP Ryan Lynch: As impressive as Tony Pluta has been for Arizona as a closer, Lynch may be more so. The 6-foot-4 senior has an 0.59 ERA with two earned runs allowed in 30.2 innings, the last coming on March 22. Since then he’s had 16 scoreless appearances spanning 18.1 IP with only 10 hits and seven walks allowed.
Louisville Cardinals
- Record: 40-22
- Batting average: .305 (3rd among CWS teams)
- ERA: 5.35 (8th)
- Last CWS appearance: 2019
Overview
Louisville began the season picked to finish 9th in the deep ACC, and that proved to be mostly accurate as the Cardinals earned the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament after going 15-15. They only lasted one game in conference tourney and were sent to a regional hosted by No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt, where a switch was flipped.
The Cardinal swept that regional, including a win over Vandy, then because Miami won the Clemson Regional they got to host Supers for the first time since 2019. They finished off the Hurricanes in three games and enter the CWS allowing only 17 runs in six postseason contests.
A UA/Louisville matchup in Omaha will be a rematch of an early-season game at the Shriners Children’s Classic in Arlington, Texas. The Wildcats were thumped 13-1, held to one hit (a Mason White 1st-inning homer) to complete an 0-3 opening weekend.
The Cardinals are 6th nationally in stolen bases at 155, with three guys swiping 30 or more bags.
Players to know
- RHP Patrick Forbes: The 6-foot-3 junior is third in the country in strikeouts per nine innings, at 14.6, though he hasn’t gone deeper than the 6th this season. He’s walked four each in his two NCAA tourney starts but has only given up five or more hits twice in 2025.
- OF Eddie King Jr.: The senior began the season near the bottom of the order, including when he was 3 for 5 with three RBI against Arizona in February, but now he’s in the No. 4 hole and hitting a team-best. .362 with 17 homers and 60 RBI. King is 12 of 22 with three homers and eight RBI in the postseason.
- OF Lucas Moore: The Division I steals leader with 51 (in 52 attempts), Moore hits .353 and reaches base nearly 45 percent of the time. That’s enabled him to score 83 times, tied for third-most in the country.