With the season winding down, the Washington State baseball team will return home this weekend to face the University of Arizona for the start of a six game home stand.

The Cougars (24-19, 7-11 Pac-12) have been on fire since the beginning of April, winning 12 of 16 games. The Wildcats (25-17, 9-12 Pac-12) have not fared as well over the same stretch and have won only three of 14 games.

The Wildcats feature some talented batters on the roster who will try and make things tough for the Cougar pitchers. Junior infielder Scott Kingery leads the club in batting average at .440, with 35 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .654. Another top performer is sophomore infielder Bobby Dalbec, who leads the team with 45 RBIs and also sports an impressive .343 batting average.

Arizona does not have an impressive team ERA (4.11), but they do feature a few pitchers who could make things difficult for the Cougars. Freshman right-hander Rio Gomez leads the club with a 1.32 ERA through a limited 13.2 innings. Junior right-hander Tyger Talley leads his team with an impressive 48 strikeouts, one of two Wildcat pitchers with more than 40 K’s.

WSU has benefited from solid pitching all year, and recently had two of its pitchers set career records. Senior left-hander Joe Pistorese set the all-time innings pitched record with 331, while sophomore right-hander Ian Hamilton secured the most career saves in WSU history with 25.

The Cougars struggled offensively early in the year, but the bats have come alive over the past few series. One consistent hitter has been senior infielder Ian Sagdal, whose .321 batting average leads the team. Sagdal also leads the team with 27 RBIs and 5 home runs.

The Cougars’ three-game series against Arizona begins Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at Bailey-Brayton Field.

Reporting by Steffen Stroup