Vets Maddox Mihalakis, Andrew Cain starting to do their parts for Arizona baseball

Redshirt freshmen Tony Lira and Nate Novitske have been Arizona’s best hitters, both piling up multiple multi-hit games during the Wildcats’ weekend sweep of Fresno State.

Another redshirt freshman, Jackson Forbes, is wedging his way into the lineup, too.

But Arizona can’t rely entirely on its kiddie corps. Upperclassmen need to do their part. Maddox Mihalakis and Andrew Cain showed signs vs. the Bulldogs that they’re ready to do just that.

Mihalakis, a senior third baseman/DH, went 7 for 13 with eight RBIs in three games against the Bulldogs. Mihalakis had been in a horrific slump, notching just four hits in his first 50 at-bats. In one weekend, he more than doubled his batting average from .080 to .175.

Mihalakis hit .279 last season as a starter for a College World Series team. UA coach Chip Hale knew Mihalakis would find his form eventually.

“If you watch Maddox or you've ever been around him ... he's super mature,” Hale said. “He's been this way since he got here. He's very analytical, and he looks at a lot of film. He tinkers with his swing a lot. Toby (DeMello, Arizona’s hitting coach) and Maddox have a very good relationship, so they've been in the cage.

“Every batting practice we take, whether it's before the game or in practice, he kills it. So you knew that it was there, and it was probably becoming more of a mental than a physical thing.

“So I just kept putting his name in the lineup, patting him on the tail and said, ‘Hey, buddy, just keep going. Things are going to turn around.’ ”

Mihalakis steadfastly stuck to his routine and trusted that results would follow. He finally broke through on Friday against Fresno, going 2 for 3 with two RBIs. He went 3 for 5 with two doubles and three RBIs Saturday. He capped the weekend by going 2 for 5 with three more runs batted in.

“It's tough,” Mihalakis said. “I always feel solid in BP. Sometimes you get out here and it's a little frustrating to not see some balls fall. But it's baseball. It's how it goes. You go through these stretches. The best thing to do is try and claw your way out of it.”

Cain, a junior outfielder, entered the Fresno series with a .200 average. He missed three games because of a hand injury (UC Irvine, Grand Canyon, Game 1 vs. Fresno) before returning Saturday. Cain went 2 for 3 with a pair of walks. On Sunday, he went 2 for 4 with a double, his first home run of the season and three RBIs.

“To win in this league, you’re going to have to have your veterans produce,” said Hale, whose team visits ASU for a nonconference game Tuesday before opening Big 12 play Friday at Utah.

“We can give all the kids experience. People can say, ‘You’ve got great young players.’ But it’s really hard to win in the Big 12 without your guys who have a track record to play like it.”

Novitske and Lira don’t have that experience, but they’re mashing the ball.

Novitske went 7 for 14 against the Bulldogs with six runs scored. He has an eight-game hitting streak and ranks third in the Big 12 with a .440 batting average.

Lira went 11 for 18 over Arizona’s four-game homestand with two doubles, a home run, six runs scored and five RBIs. He struck out only one time and raised his average to .381.

“They're ballers,” said Forbes, who had three RBIs Sunday and is batting .333 (6 for 18). “They're two of the hottest hitters in the country right now, and I don't think they're getting enough credit. They show up every day, work hard, always hitting together. It's cool to see.”

Breyfogle done for ’26

Arizona was supposed to have three returnees anchoring its lineup — Mihalakis, Cain and Easton Breyfogle.

But Breyfogle couldn’t shake the injury bug that plagued him his first two years, and now the junior outfielder is out for the season.

Breyfogle recently underwent surgery for an injured left (non-throwing) shoulder. He banged up his shoulder during a preseason scrimmage and damaged it further in an outfield collision on Feb. 19. Breyfogle appeared in only two games and should be able to pursue a medical redshirt.

Hale said Breyfogle felt “great” the day before the surgery and even ran the bases with the team. But “he knew that if he dove or slid, it was probably going to come out again,” Hale said. “And that was why this surgery was so necessary.”

Breyfogle is the third Wildcat to suffer a season-ending injury, joining pitchers Tony Pluta and Nolan Straniero.

Quality and control

Arizona got a quality start Sunday from left-hander Luc Fladda, who allowed three earned runs (four total) in six innings in the Wildcats’ 14-4 run-rule victory.

It was the fifth quality start in a row by a weekend starter. Smith Bailey began that run against Vanderbilt on Feb. 28. Fladda followed him against UC Irvine on March 1.

Owen Kramkowski opened the Fresno series with his best outing of the season — six shutout innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts. Bailey then threw seven scoreless innings and struck out a career-best nine batters.

Neither Kramkowski nor Fladda issued a walk against the Bulldogs. Fladda has yet to allow a free pass this season. Twelve Big 12 pitchers have thrown at least 20 innings, and Fladda is the only one who has yet to walk a batter.

“I’m not sure if we thought he’d start on Sundays for us, but he has won that position,” Hale said of Fladda, a transfer from Tulane.

“He’s pitching great, and I think the guys enjoy playing behind him.”

Inside pitch

– Arizona notched season highs with 14 runs and 14 hits Sunday. The Wildcats scored 23 runs in the final two games of the series. They scored 15 runs in seven games between Feb. 15 and 27.

– Arizona (6-9) has won three games in a row and five of its past six after starting the season 1-8. “It's always hard when you have a start like that,” Forbes said. “You just gotta keep pushing. We're not out of it yet. We're still going.”

– UA batters struck out eight times in the Fresno State series and just once on Sunday. The Wildcats fanned an average of 11.8 times in the first 12 games.

– Hale did not have a concrete pitching plan immediately after Sunday’s game. It likely will include right-handers Collin McKinney and Jack Lafflam and lefty Mason Russell. All bullpen arms are expected to be available aside from LHP Maclain Roberts, who threw two scoreless innings (39 pitches) in back of Fladda on Sunday.

– ASU (11-4) has 10 players from the Phoenix area. Forbes, one of six Wildcats who attended Mountain Ridge High School in Peoria, is familiar with many of them. “Played with and against multiple guys that play there,” Forbes said. “We're good buddies. But not on Tuesday.”