After a 4-1 win over BYU in the Big XII Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, Arizona will play West Virginia in the semifinals on Friday. West Virginia advanced with a 10-3 win over Cincinnati on Thursday in their quarterfinal. Arizona won two out of three games in Morgantown in March.
Arizona won 6-4 in 16 innings in the first game at West Virginia in March. Wildcat pitchers struck out Mountaineer batters an Arizona program record 29 times to help secure the win. West Virginia won the second game 11-3 before Arizona clinched the series with an 11-4 game three win.
The win by West Virginia on Thursday ended a four-game losing streak. West Virginia was swept last weekend by Kansas in a series when they were shut out twice. West Virginia lost 14-9 at Kansas State in the series prior to playing Kansas. Arizona enters the game versus West Virginia with three consecutive wins.
West Virginia had the top pitching staff in the Big XII in 2025 with a 4.14 earned run average and is fourth in the conference with a .298 batting average. Arizona is 10th in the Big XII, hitting .282 and sixth with a 4.88 ERA. Arizona had a 5.18 ERA in the three-game series versus West Virginia in March.
Arizona versus West Virginia Big XII Tournament
First pitch for Arizona and West Virginia in the Big XII Tournament Semifinals is at 2 PM Mountain Standard Time at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Arizona is playing its fifth game at Globe Life Field after beginning the 2025 season there with three consecutive losses.
Arizona versus West Virginia Pitching Matchup
Raul Garayzar (1-0, 2.45) will start for Arizona versus Jack Kartsonas (6-2, 2.29) for West Virginia in the Big XII Tournament Semifinal on Friday. Garayzar pitched 2.2 innings, allowing two doubles and hitting one batter with one run in relief in the Arizona loss at West Virginia.
Kartsonas pitched 1.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits and one walk with three strikeouts in two appearances versus Arizona in March. In his second appearance versus Arizona this season, Kartsonas failed to record an out.
Arizona versus West Virginia Series
Arizona and West Virginia have each won three games in their all-time series. West Virginia won two out of three games in Tucson in the inaugural series with Arizona in 2023. Arizona evened the series this season.
Arizona versus West Virginia Live Stream
Arizona versus West Virginia will be live streamed by ESPN+. Clay Matvick will call play-by-play for ESPN+ and Mike Rooney will be the analyst. Wildcats Radio 1290 will also broadcast the game, with Arizona announcer Brian Jeffries providing play-by-play.
What is next
The winner between Arizona and West Virginia advances to the Big XII Tournament Championship Game on Saturday at 4 PM MST on ESPU and ESPN+.