Salpointe graduate Mason White hit his second and third home runs of the Big 12 tournament and produced a career-high-tying six RBIs in No. 4 Arizona’s 12-1 win over top-seeded West Virginia in the semifinals Friday at Globe Life Field at Arlington, Texas.
Rio Rico right-handed alum Raul Garayzar improved to 2-0, highly effective in his sixth start of the season. His six innings were his longest of the season and he scattered six hits in a shut-out performance. He struck out three and walked two.
“Raul set the tone on the mound for us today,” Arizona coach Chip Hale said in the postgame press conference. “Mason had a fantastic game. He’s swinging the bat well and it’s great to see going into the postseason.”
Since going through an 0-for-13 slump from April 23-26, White has batted 23 for 53 (.434) with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in the last 14 games (Arizona went 8-6 in that span, including winning five of its last six games).
Arizona (38-18) will play No. 3 TCU (39-17) in the championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.
The Horned Frogs defeated No. 2 Kansas 11-1 in eight innings in other semifinal Friday night.
The Wildcats are vying for their second consecutive conference tournament championship after beating USC in the last Pac-12 tournament final last year at Scottsdale. Arizona also played in the 2023 Pac-12 tournament championship game, losing to Oregon.
We've got a date with the championship gamepic.twitter.com/LBPE2iAYhw
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 24, 2025
“I’m seeing the ball, honestly, and ready to go, not letting the game speed up and looking at the middle of the plate and letting it fly,” White said about hitting a home run in the first inning in consecutive games in the tournament.
Arizona continued its mastery of the Mountaineers. West Virginia earned the regular-season Big 12 championship but lost two of three games against Arizona at Morgantown, W.Va., from March 21-23.
White’s damage Friday:
- Hit his first home run with two outs in the top of the first on a 3-1 count.
- Scored Arizona’s second run also with two outs in the third on Adonys Guzman’s RBI single.
- Belted his second home run of the game, 16th of the season and 45th of his Arizona career in the fifth inning with no outs, a three-run blast to increase the lead to 5-0.
- Made it 7-0 after walking, advancing to third on another Guzman RBI single with two outs, and then scoring on a single by Garen Caulfield.
- Hit an RBI single in the seventh inning with two outs that scored Aaron Walton (who hit a two-run double before him) to increase the lead to 10-0.
- Connected on an RBI double in the ninth inning that closed Arizona’s scoring.
ARIZONA CAREER HOME RUN LEADERS
| Player | Years | HR |
|---|---|---|
| Shelley Duncan | 1999-2001 | 55 |
| Mason White | 2023-25 | 49 |
| Brad Glenn | 2006-09 | 43 |
| Chase Davis | 2021-23 | 39 |
| Kenny Corley | 1995-98 | 36 |
| Nick Quintana | 2017-19 | 35 |
| David Shermet | 1985-88 | 34 |
| Les Pearsey | 1975-78 | 33 |
| C.J. Zeigler | 2007-08 | 33 |
| Moises Duran | 2001-04 | 32 |
Arizona’s production with two outs against West Virginia — 9 of 18 with three walks, a home run, double and eight RBIs.
The Wildcats had the opportunity to run-rule the Mountaineers (41-14) but West Virginia managed a run after Garayzar did not return in the seventh inning.
Julian Tonghini was charged the run, which occurred on a single by Chase Swain after Armani Guzman hit a single and advanced two bases on a wild pitch after Adonys Guzman, the catcher, could not locate the ball behind the plate.
White’s RBI double in the ninth completed his 4-for-4 day with four runs and the six RBIs, which tied his career best when he produced all of the runs in an 8-6 loss against Utah on May 9 at Hi Corbett Field.
In Arizona's first year in the Big 12, it has reached the conference championship in men's basketball, men's tennis, women's golf, softball and now baseball. Men's tennis and women's golf earned their titles. Baseball will go after the trophy tomorrow at 4 p.m.
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) May 24, 2025
In the two games in the Big 12 tournament thus far, White is 6 of 7 with a double, triple, three home runs, six runs and seven RBIs.
Garayzar’s performance is Arizona’s second consecutive quality start in the tournament — both by pitchers who played their high school ball down I-19 south of Tucson.
Walden Grove graduate Owen Kramkowski was the winning pitcher Thursday in the 4-1 outcome against BYU. He also pitched six scoreless innings with four hits allowed, one walk and eight strikeouts.
Garayzar has pitched well at Globe Life before when Arizona played Clemson in the second game of the season Feb. 15. He pitched three scoreless innings of relief, allowing only two hits with two strikeouts and no walks, in the Wildcats’ 16-5 loss.
“I say it all the time, this is one of my favorite mounds that I’ve pitched on all year,” Garayzar said. “It’s no ordinary mound; you still have to go through your mental stuff, just have the same process through it all.
“It is fun pitching at this ballpark.”
Arizona belted 17 hits against West Virginia, which lost by double digits for the first time in 77 games.
Six of the Wildcats had multiple hits, led by White and Adonys Guzman (3 for 5 with three RBIs).
Brendan Summerhill was 2 for 4 with three runs and two walks. Walton went 2 for 5 with three runs, a double and two RBIs. Caulfield finished 2 for 5 with an RBI and Tommy Splaine went 2 for 5.
Arizona won two of three games against TCU at Hi Corbett Field from May 2-4.
NOTES
— White passed Brad Glenn (2006-09) with his 44th career home run to move into sole possession of second place on the Wildcats’ all-time home run list. He also passed Glenn with his 104th extra-base hit, moving him into second in that category. He would move the total to 45 home runs and 106 extra-base hits with a fifth-inning home run and a ninth-inning double.
— White has a 3.471 OPS over the two games. He is on pace to break the tournament record for slugging percentage and batting average with an .857 batting average and a 2.571 slugging percentage.
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