Arizona fans find run 'thrilling,' hope to see Cats win Wednesday

Arizona baseball fans put on their school colors and flocked to Main Gate Square on Tuesday night, hoping to see the Wildcats capture their fifth College World Series title and the first since 2012.

It all turned out to be a dress rehearsal.

Arizona’s 5-4 loss to Coastal Carolina in Game 2 of the College World Series finals forced a winner-take-all matchup on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

UA senior Conor Craddock plans to be back on University Boulevard on Wednesday with the same objective he had Tuesday night — to see the Wildcats win it all.

“It’s been thrilling because we never thought we’d be here,” said Craddock, who attended Salpointe Catholic High School with UA junior infielder Michael Hoard. “I’m superstitious, so I don’t want to talk that far ahead, but to win it all would mean a lot to the UA and the program.”

Craddock, donning a cardinal UA polo, joined dozens of fans packed into Frog & Firkin on Tuesday night.

They celebrated early as the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but the jubilation mostly turned to disappointment as the game progressed, especially when Coastal Carolina put together a three-run rally in the top of the eighth.

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Spirits lifted in the bottom half, when Arizona put together its own rally and had a chance to take the lead, but the “U of A” chants faded as the Wildcats went down in order in their last at-bat.

Jason Wright, 27, graduated from the UA and works as an operations manager at the Student Union. The Seattle native was also among those at the British-style pub located just west of campus.

Wright said he became an avid Arizona baseball fan in his time as a student and had a friend who worked with the 2012 championship team. He said he’s hoping junior Bobby Dalbec, his favorite player, takes the mound Wednesday with the national title on the line.

“It’s a big deal for the university as a whole,” said Wright, wearing a “Wildcats Own Omaha” T-shirt from the 2012 season. “National championships, especially in baseball, are kind of underrated, especially when you think of how much we’re a basketball school combined with how much we care about the football program.”

UA sophomore Camille Sweger, a server at Frog & Firkin, watched anxiously as her friend Alfonso Rivas III took the mound in the top of the eighth . She’s off Wednesday night, so she’s hoping to watch as Arizona wins another elimination game.

“I have my shirt from 2012, when Arizona won,” said Sweger, a Tucson native. “I just want to get another one; I need an updated one.”