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Pitching was supposed to be the strength of Arizona’s 2026 team, but then life happened.
It started with the departures of two coaches who were instrumental in assembling and developing the staff, including one only a few weeks before the season began. Then a series of arm injuries popped up, most notably to closer Tony Pluta.
This had a major effect on the Wildcats’ bullpen, where roles had to be redefined and new pitching coach Sean Kenny had to learn on the fly who could be trusted in what situation. Not surprisingly, the results during the first half of the season reflected all this uncertainty.
But as it heads into a 6-game Big 12 homestand, Arizona’s pitching has started to perform as expected despite all the change. The staff ERA over the last five games—which includes four wins, three on the road—is 3.27, and no opponent has managed more than five runs or eight hits in that span.
That includes Monday’s 11-inning win at ASU, which saw six UA pitchers hold one of the most potent lineups in the country to three runs and seven hits.
It doesn’t get any easier for Arizona (14-22, 5-10), though. Kansas State (23-14, 7-8) leads the Big 12 in hitting in conference games in batting (.344), on-base percentage (.440) and slugging (.586).
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“This weekend is a huge weekend against another good team in our conference, and we have to play good baseball,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “We know with our starting pitching, they’re going to give us a chance to have a chance to win and late in the game, like we’ve been doing.”
Arizona’s starting rotation of Owen Kramkowski, Smith Bailey and Luc Fladda have averaged just over 5.5 innings in Big 12 play, with Kramkowski going six or more in his last three starts. That has enabled Hale and Kenny to line up the bullpen arms in a particular order, with seven getting into at least four conference games.
Garrett Hicks has established himself as the closer, with three saves and a 2.61 ERA in Big 12 play. He’s also thrown 11.1 consecutive scoreless innings, including three at the end of Monday’s win at ASU.
“Garrett Hicks was not 100 percent to start the year,” Hale said. “He’d gotten hurt in the fall and we had slow played it, bringing him back. Sean was very careful how he used him early on in the year. What Sean has figured out, as has the rest of us, is (Hicks) is probably better with a lot of work.”
Most of Arizona’s top relief arms are upperclassmen, the exception being freshman right-hander Benton Hickman. He holds a 3.45 ERA in 12 appearances totaling 15.2 innings, and his opposing batting average of .175 is lowest among regulars.
“He really hasn’t struggled with guys hitting him,” Hale said. “His stuff is very hard to hit, but what you don’t factor into it is, can you throw enough strikes. We maybe overshot what he could do to start with. There were people that said he could be our closer when Tony went down.”
Hickman’s first career appearance, against Oregon State in Surprise, saw him hit the first two batters he faced, picking up the loss. He hit six batters in his first three outings.
“I definitely got the experience my first outing at U of A,” Hickman said. “It was a good first outing. It got (me) a lot of experience.”
Hickman, from Litchfield Park, Ariz., has worked with a pair of ex-MLB pitchers in Todd Stottlemyre and Stephen Randolph to help him transition to a college reliever.
“I kind of leaned on them, especially early, when I was going through struggle,” he said. “I called them and talked to them, and they got me refocused on my mental game. I think my biggest part of my game for relievers are the mental side. I mean, coming in with bases loaded or coming in with guys on is never the easiest situation. But I think when I talked to them, I definitely got a better grasp of reminding myself who I was and how that’s my role as a pitcher. That’s my strong suit.”
That’s showed in recent outings, like at ASU when he was brought into a 2-run game with the tying runs in scoring position and one out. He got a strikeout then, after an intentional walk to load the bases, induced an inning-ending groundout to preserve a 3-1 lead at the time.
“He’s gonna be better than I am,” Pluta said of Hickman. “He’s really impressive. His stuff is elite. It’s way better than my stuff is. If he keeps doing what he’s doing, if he can find a way to recover after the bad outings and just stay in a good mental space, I mean, he’s gonna be absolutely dominant. I’m understating it more than anything, I think he’s gonna be a really good player.”
After hosting Kansas State, Arizona welcomes BYU to Hi Corbett Field. The Wildcats are currently in 13th place in the Big 12, with only the top 12 making the conference tournament, but are only a game out of 10th.
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