Mason White was the MVP of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament.
He’s making a case to bring home the hardware from the Big 12 Baseball Championship — and maybe a team trophy, too.
Arizona’s junior shortstop continued his tear in the conference semifinals Friday. White slugged a pair of home runs and had a career-high-tying six RBIs as No. 4 seed UA drubbed top seed West Virginia 12-1 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Wildcats will face No. 3 seed TCU, which run-ruled No. 2 seed Kansas 11-1 in eight innings later Friday. The championship game is slated for 4 p.m. Saturday.
White’s pair of homers gave him three in two games in the tournament. He also has a triple. The Salpointe Catholic High School product is now in sole possession of second place on Arizona’s career leaderboard with 45 home runs, 10 behind Shelley Duncan.
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White had a simple explanation for his success at the plate.
“Just seeing the ball, honestly, and being ready to go," White told reporters after the game. "Not letting the game speed up. Looking in the middle of the plate and just letting it fly.”

Arizona’s Mason White connects for a first-inning home run against West Virginia in the semifinals of the Big 12 Baseball Championship on May 23, 2025, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
White alone provided more offense than UA starter Raul Garayzar would need. Garayzar, making his second start as part of the weekend rotation, threw a career-high six innings. The Rio Rico High School product scattered six hits and did not allow a run. He walked two and struck out three.
Since being promoted, Garayzar has allowed just one run in 10⅔ innings.
It wasn't the first time he's pitched well in Arlington. Garayzar threw three scoreless innings against Clemson on Feb. 15 at Globe Life.
"This is one of my favorite mounds that I pitched on all year," Garayzar said. "But it's also just an ordinary mound, so you still have to go through your mental stuff and have the same process through it all. But it is fun pitching at this ballpark for sure.”
Garayzar got help from his defense as Arizona turned three double plays — none of the standard variety.
First baseman Tommy Splaine speared a line drive for an unassisted double play in the fourth. Splaine initiated a 3-6 double play in the fifth. The Wildcats then turned a rare 6-5-3 in the sixth as White, shifted to the right side of the infield, picked a hard one-hopper and flipped the ball to third baseman Maddox Mihalakis, who was playing the equivalent of shortstop, for the turn.

Arizona's Raul Garayzar delivers a pitch against West Virginia in the semifinals of the Big 12 Baseball Championship on Friday, May 23, 2025, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Garayzar threw six scoreless innings.
“Raul Garayzar set the tone on the mound for us today, and Mason had a fantastic game swinging the bat ... it's great to see that going into the postseason," UA coach Chip Hale said. "And I thought, again, our defense was really, really good today. We swung the bats well, and we pitched well. So when you do that, you have a good chance to win.”
White was involved in every rally as Arizona took a 5-0 lead.
He started the scoring with a two-out, solo home run to left-center in the first inning. It was White’s second first-inning homer in as many games.
White drew a two-out walk in the top of the third. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Adonys Guzman’s seeing-eye single up the middle.
Brendan Summerhill and Aaron Walton set the table for White in the fifth. Summerhill led off with a bunt single. Walton then dropped a sinking line drive into left field for another single. White followed with another bomb, this one to right-center.
Guzman struck again in the sixth, lining a single to right to drive in Summerhill, who had walked and stolen second base. Caulfield added another RBI single in the frame to bump Arizona’s lead to 7-0.

Arizona's Mason White (24) is congratulated by his teammates after slugging a three-run homer in the fifth inning against West Virginia in the semifinals of the Big 12 Baseball Championship on Friday, May 23, 2025, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
After Walton drove in a pair with a double in the seventh, White notched his fifth RBI with a line-drive single to left-center. He tied his personal mark, last reached on May 9 vs. Utah, with an RBI double in the ninth. He finished 4 for 4 with four runs scored and two walks.
Collin McKinney, who lost his weekend starting job to Garayzar, pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game. Arizona allowed only one run for the third consecutive game after yielding at least five in each of the previous seven contests.
Arizona is playing in a conference championship game for the third straight year. The Wildcats reached the Pac-12 Tournament title game in 2023 and won it last season.
Inside pitch
– White also moved into second place with 106 career extra-base hits in a UA uniform. Dave Stegman is first with 110. White is 6 for 7 in the Big 12 Baseball Championship.
– The top four batters in Arizona’s order — Summerhill, Walton, White and Guzman — went 11 for 18 with 10 runs scored and 11 RBIs.
– The No. 1 seed failed to advance to the final for the ninth time in the past 10 Big 12 Championships. The No. 1 seed hasn’t won the tournament since 2009.
– Arizona took two of three from TCU May 2-4 at Hi Corbett Field. The Horned Frogs defeated freshman right-hander Smith Bailey, who will get the start for the Wildcats on Saturday.
Contact sports reporter/columnist Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com. On X (Twitter): @michaeljlev. On Bluesky: @michaeljlev.bsky.social