PREVIEW: Baseball Heads to Arizona

TUCSON, ARIZ. – Houston Baseball plays its last road games of the regular season as it heads to Arizona for a three-game series.

Game one starts at 8 p.m. CT Friday with game two at 8 p.m. CT Saturday. The weekend concludes at 2 p.m. CT Sunday.

Arizona
Game One	Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m. CT Tucson, Arizona ESPN+ \| Stats
Game Two	Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. CT Tucson, Arizona ESPN+ \| Stats
Game Three	Sunday, May 10 at 2 p.m. CT Tucson, Arizona ESPN+ \| Stats
Game Notes	Houston
Media Center	Notes, Record Book, Rosters, Box Scores

Probable Pitchers
Game One

Houston: RHP Kendall Hoffman (4.85 ERA, 2-6, 65.0 IP, 46 K)
Arizona: RHP Owen Kramkowski (4.96 ERA, 1-6, 65.1 IP, 71 K)

Game Two

Houston: RHP Paul Schmitz (6.40 ERA, 2-6, 52.0 IP, 47 K)
Arizona: LHP Luc Fladda (5.66 ERA, 3-2, 62.0 IP, 52 K)

Game Three

Houston: TBD
Arizona: TBD

Quick Hitters

The Cougars are coming off a 10-1 rout of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in one of its last midweek tilts of the year. Senior Cade Climie and freshman Blake Fields hit homers in the win while freshman Caden Cooper earned his first career quality start.
Houston has wins against #3 (Texas) and #5 (Alabama) in the NCAA's latest RPI release. The Cougars are the only Big 12 team with a one Top 3 win, one of two with at least one Top 5 win and one of six with at least five Quad 1 wins.
Houston is 3-5 against ranked opponents this year, including significant wins against #2 Texas on March 24, #15 West Virginia on April 17 and #21 Wake Forest on Feb. 13. The schedule is the 31^st most difficult among Division I teams with 34 games so far against Top 100 teams and 18 against Quad One foes.
Three former Cougars were named to MLB Opening Day rosters: John King (Miami), Jared Triolo (Pittsburgh) and Connor Wong (Boston) while Josh Ekness, a 2023 graduate of the program, made his MLB Debut on May 3. Overall, Houston has 15 alumni playing in MLB or MiLB.
Houston legend Josh Ekness tossed a perfect innings in his debut, retiring Justin Crawford, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber.
The Cougars play 11 different conferences including all of the Power 4 leagues. Houston has secured a win against an opponent from every Power 4 conference.
Houston started the season with a 4-0 showing at the Puerto Rico Challenge, defeating No. 21 Wake Forest in the first NCAA Division I Baseball game of the season. The showing propelled the Cougars into the national spotlight, with the team receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll for the next four weeks.
Houston captured its highest ranked win under Head Coach Todd Whitting as it downed #2 Texas on March 24.
The Cougars face a loaded schedule in 2026, battling five teams that finished 2025 in the Top 25 of RPI. The team will play 29 of its 55 games against teams that finished in the Top 50 of the NCAA's RPI and 25 games against teams that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

THE SERIES
Houston vs. Arizona

Overall: Arizona leads 7-6
At Houston: Series tied 3-3
At Arizona: Arizona leads 4-3
At Neutral Site: N/A
Streak: Arizona, 2 games
Last UH Win: May 15, 2025 | Houston | 13-4
Last Arizona Win: May 17, 2025 | Houston | 8-1
Under Whitting: 4-5
Last 5: LLWLW (2-3)
Last 10: LLWLWLLWWW (5-5)
Longest UH Win Streak: 4
Longest Arizona Win Streak: 2
First Meeting: 1960

SUPPORT THE COUGARS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Baseball by providing NIL opportunities and by joining the Dugout Club which provides financial support directly to Houston Baseball for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarBB on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at Houston Cougar Baseball. Fans can also follow the team on Instagram at @uhcougarbb.

– UHCougars.com –

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Players Mentioned

Cade Climie

Caden Cooper

Blake Fields

Kendall Hoffman

Paul Schmitz

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