In their first year in a new conference, the Arizona Wildcats didn’t just adjust. They dominated.
Arizona capped off its inaugural Big 12 season with a 2-1 extra-inning win over TCU to claim the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field. The title run wasn’t just a successful debut—it was unprecedented. No first-year Big 12 team had ever done it before.
The Wildcats swept through the bracket with a 3-0 record. They opened with a composed win over BYU, dismantled top-seeded West Virginia in the semifinal, then outlasted TCU in a tense, back-and-forth final.
They did it with elite pitching, timely power, and contributions up and down the roster. Head coach Chip Hale is now four-for-four on postseason appearances since taking over in Tucson. This one felt different.
Game One – Arizona 4, BYU 1
Arizona opened the tournament Thursday morning against a BYU squad that had stunned Arizona State in the opening round. The Cougars had momentum. Arizona ended it quickly.
After Brendan Summerhill walked to lead off the game, Mason White launched a solo home run to right-center. One batter later, Adonys Guzman followed with a shot to left. Just like that, Arizona was up 2-0 before BYU had recorded three outs.
Starter Owen Kramkowski dominated. He tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, working around runners in the third and fourth with strikeouts and soft contact.
In the fifth, White tripled and scored on an RBI single from Maddox Mihalakis. BYU managed to scratch across a run in the eighth, but Arizona answered immediately—Dom Rodriguez ripped an RBI double into right to plate Mihalakis and seal the win.
Tony Pluta recorded the final six outs to earn his 12th save of the year.
Arizona head coach Chip Hale, Owen Kramkowski, and Mason White spoke after the 4-1 win over BYU about execution, confidence, and setting the tone in the postgame interview.
Game Two – Arizona 12, West Virginia 1
The semifinal wasn’t close.
Facing No. 1 seed West Virginia, Arizona unleashed a 17-hit assault and backed it up with lockdown pitching. The Wildcats scored in six different innings, turned three double plays, and never let WVU get comfortable.
Mason White set the tone with a solo homer in the first. He followed with a walk and a run in the third, then cracked a three-run blast in the fifth that broke the game open.
By the end of the seventh, White had gone 4-for-4 with two homers, a double, six RBIs, and two walks.
Arizona’s entire lineup contributed. Guzman had three hits and three RBIs. Summerhill scored three runs and stole a base. Caulfield, Mihalakis, and Splaine all chipped in with multi-hit games.
Raul Garayzar earned the win with six shutout innings, mixing speeds and working ahead in counts. Julian Tonghini and Collin McKinney finished it off clean. West Virginia didn’t score until late in a game Arizona had already put out of reach.
Semifinals Game – TCU 11, Kansas 1
On the other side of the bracket, Kansas and TCU battled to determine who would face Arizona in the title game. TCU made sure it wasn’t close. The Horned Frogs unloaded for 16 hits and six eighth-inning runs in an 11-1 blowout, capped by a three-run triple from Jack Bell. Arizona now knew it would have to temper the explosive bats of a TCU lineup that had just buried Kansas.
Championship Game – Arizona 2, TCU 1 (10 innings)
This was the one that almost slipped away.
TCU scored first in the bottom of the first on a double and an RBI groundout. Arizona had chances but left the bases loaded in the third and stranded two more in the sixth and eighth. Through eight innings, the Wildcats had nothing to show for it.
Smith Bailey gave Arizona 5.1 solid innings, allowing just one run. Casey Hintz and Garrett Hicks bridged the gap to the ninth, keeping the score tight.
Then Andrew Cain stepped to the plate.
Leading off the ninth, Cain launched a solo shot to right to tie the game 1-1. Tony Pluta entered in the bottom half and silenced the Horned Frogs with a strikeout and two routine outs.
In the 10th, White was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single from Guzman. Mihalakis followed with a line drive to center, scoring White with the go-ahead run.
Pluta closed it out in the 10th. One groundout. One single. One strikeout. One flyout.
For the Big 12 recap and reaction.
Tournament Honors and What’s Next
Mason White was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 Big 12 Baseball Championship. He went 8-for-11 with three home runs, two doubles, a triple, eight RBIs, and four walks.
Three teammates joined him on the All-Tournament Team. Mihalakis delivered the walk-off RBI. Summerhill scored five times and played clean defense. Pluta threw four shutout innings across two games and earned both a win and a save.
2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
P: Tommy LaPour, TCU
P: Griffin Kirn, West Virginia
RP: Tony Pluta, Arizona
C: Jack Natili, Cincinnati
DH: Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
1B: Brady Ballinger, Kansas
2B: Cole Cramer, TCU
3B: Maddox Mihalakis, Arizona
3B: Jack Bell, TCU
SS: Mason White, Arizona
OF: Brandon Summerhill, Arizona
OF: Noah Franco, TCU
OF: Kyle West, West Virginia
Most Outstanding Player: Mason White, Arizona
Other players honored included catcher Jack Natili (Cincinnati), Brady Ballinger (Kansas), Cole Cramer and Jack Bell (TCU), Noah Franco (TCU), Kyle West (West Virginia), Sawyer Strosnider (TCU), and pitchers Tommy Lapour (TCU) and Griffin Kim (WVU).
Arizona enters the NCAA Tournament with a 39-18 record and something even better—proof they belong.
They won with starting pitching and timely hitting. They won blowouts and they won late. They held the top seed to a single run. They outlasted a conference heavyweight.
Selection Monday airs May 26 at 11 a.m. Central on ESPN2.
Arizona will be watching. So will everyone else.
