The University of Arizona baseball team (16-4) secured a 5-0 home victory, shutting out the University of Kansas (17-4) at Hi Corbett Field on Tuesday, March 18. Arizona’s pitchers combined to strike out 13 batters while allowing just four hits — all singles.
The Jayhawks entered the game averaging more than 10 runs per contest, but Arizona killed their offensive rhythm, holding them scoreless for the first time this season. Right-hander Raul Garayzar set the tone with four shutout innings, limiting Kansas to two hits while striking out five. The bullpen followed suit with five more dominant frames, capped by a perfect seventh inning from Matthew Martinez, who earned the win after striking out the last remaining Jayhawk.
On offense, the Wildcats plated 2 runs in the first inning, the first on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Maddox Mihalakis and the second on a passed ball that allowed a runner to score. Arizona extended their lead in the second when right fielder Brendan Summerhill lined a run-scoring single into the outfield. In the fourth, Summerhill again delivered, this time with an RBI triple, before center fielder Aaron Walton added another run on a sacrifice fly. That would be all the offense Arizona needed, as its pitching staff rendered Kansas completely ineffective at the plate.
For a Kansas team that had not been shut out since April 2024, the frustration mounted as it failed to generate meaningful scoring opportunities. The Jayhawks put runners in scoring position just three times all night and saw their best chance in the eighth inning evaporate when a line drive to second base was snagged and turned into a double play.
Arizona’s pitching dominance has become a theme of the season. The Wildcats have now recorded three shutouts, the most by an Arizona team since 2016, a year that ended in the College World Series finals. Across their nine-game homestand, they posted a collective 1.25 ERA, with 11 earned runs in 79 innings at play.
Looking ahead:
The victory over Kansas marks the conclusion of Arizona’s homestand, as the Wildcats now prepare for their first Big 12 road test of the season. They will travel to Morgantown for a three-game series against West Virginia University, beginning Friday, March 21.
