UA edges Canisius to stay alive in NCAA Tournament; Cats to play again later Sunday

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Arizona withstood a rally from Canisius, defeating the Golden Griffins 7-5 on Sunday to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament’s Coral Gables Regional.

The Wildcats (38-24) will face the loser of the winners’ bracket game between Miami and Ole Miss. The second elimination game of the day is slated to begin at 4:06 p.m. Tucson time at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

UA batters hit four home runs, and Arizona got stellar work from the back of its bullpen to keep its season going.

After losing to the Rebels in a game that started at 10:13 p.m. local time Saturday, the Cats had to play in the morning. They were ready.

Nik McClaughry walked to lead off the game — matching the number of unintentional walks from Saturday night — and scored on Chase Davis’ two-run homer to right. It was the second home run in as many games for Davis, whose status was in question for this weekend because of a shoulder injury.

Blake Paugh, inserted into the lineup at DH against left-hander Chris Pouliot, hit a solo homer in the second to make it 3-0. Paugh hit another solo shot in the seventh.

McClaughry doubled Arizona’s output in the fourth inning, smacking a three-run homer to left-center to make it 6-1. The veteran shortstop bounced back in a big way Sunday morning after striking out in all four of his at-bats vs. Ole Miss.

The Golden Griffins proved to be pesky, however. They also took advantage of numerous self-inflicted wounds by the UA pitching staff. Canisius scored two runs apiece in the fifth and sixth to make it 6-5 and had the tying run on second. Reliever George Arias Jr. struck out Mike Steffan looking to end the threat.

Arias and Quinn Flanagan combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Flanagan earned his first save of the season.

UA starter TJ Nichols put together his second straight solid postseason start after a rough ending to the regular season. Nichols allowed three earned runs on five hits in five innings. He walked two batters and struck out four. He also threw two wild pitches and hit three batters. He leads the team in both categories with 13 apiece.

A defensive gem got Nichols out of major trouble in the fifth inning. With the score 6-3, one out and the bases loaded, McClaughry speared a one-hopper off the bat of Gibson Krzeminski. McClaughry fell onto his backside but was able to fire a strike through his legs to second baseman Garen Caulfield to initiate an inning-ending double play.