Good pitching beats good hitting β¦ or so weβve been told.
The Arizona Wildcats plan to author a dissenting opinion this weekend. They bring one of the most potent offenses in the nation to UCLA, which has one of the countryβs strongest pitching staffs. Itβs the main reason β although not the only one β that the Bruins have risen to No. 1 in the polls.
βIt sounds like theyβre hard to score runs off of,β UA coach Jay Johnson said. βThatβs not a surprise. Itβs been that way for a long time, way back to my time at San Diego. Theyβve traditionally pitched really well.β
UCLA ranks first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation with a 2.21 team ERA. The Bruins also lead the league and rank seventh nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (10.88).
The Wildcats (13-7, 2-1 Pac-12) arenβt planning any major adjustments. Theyβre going to keep doing what theyβve been doing. Itβs been working.
βI donβt think weβre going to need to change what we do,β said utility man Matthew Dyer, whoβs hitting .333 with two home runs and 19 RBIs. βSeeing the ball, hitting the ball β thatβs as simple as you can make it. Thatβs what weβre taught here.β
Arizona is averaging a conference-best 10.55 runs per game. The Wildcats are one of only three teams to have scored 200 or more runs. New Mexico State, whom the UA defeated 14-10 Tuesday, is one of them; Arizona State, whom Arizona visits next weekend, is the other.
Johnson and his staff preach patience and gap power. The Wildcats lead the Pac-12 in walks (137), doubles (51), triples (14) and on-base percentage (.446).
UCLAβs offense is middling by comparison. The Bruins average just 5.44 runs per game. Their .268 team batting average ranks seventh in the Pac-12; their .368 on-base percentage ranks ninth.
Thatβs good enough when you literally donβt let the other team score. UCLA (14-4, 2-1) already has thrown six shutouts. Arizona has only one.
The Bruins also lead the Pac-12 with a .982 fielding percentage. The Wildcats are last at .950. UCLA has allowed only four unearned runs; Arizona has surrendered 39.
Johnson views the three-game series, which starts Friday, as an opportunity. In 2017, Arizona visited Oregon State when the Beavers were ranked first by D1Baseball.com and second by Baseball America.
OSU swept the series, but the first two games were one-run walk-offs. The Wildcats followed that series with a five-game winning streak and reached the postseason for the second year in a row.
βItβll do two things,β Johnson said of facing top-ranked UCLA. βItβll show the best of our guys in terms of competitiveness. And then theyβre obviously good, so itβll probably expose some things that we further need to improve on. Both of those things are OK.β
Pitching remains Arizonaβs biggest question mark. The Wildcatsβ ERA has ballooned to 4.90. They needed eight pitchers against New Mexico State, but Johnson came away encouraged by the work of Randy Abshier, Jonathan Guardado and Avery Weems out of the bullpen. The three combined to allow only one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings against the nationβs No. 1 offense.
Of course, Weems was the most likely candidate to start Friday night. It remains to be seen whether heβll be ready to go after throwing 32 pitches over two innings against the Aggies on Tuesday.
Johnson thought as recently as last week that he knew who Arizonaβs βsix or sevenβ most reliable pitchers were. Four games later, heβs not so sure.
βItβs a moving target,β Johnson said.
Fraizerβs impact
Johnson noted that seven of the nine players in Arizonaβs lineup vs. New Mexico State were freshmen or sophomores. Thatβs one of the side effects of losing junior center fielder Matt Fraizer, whoβs out indefinitely after suffering a broken hamate bone Sunday against Utah.
While Donta Williams shifts from left field to center, Johnson likely will mix and match to fill the ninth lineup slot. Switch-hitting freshman Dayton Dooney got the call Tuesday, and he responded with the go-ahead three-run homer β the first of his UA career.
Fraizer was among the Wildcats who gleefully greeted Dooney in the dugout. Even if he canβt play, Fraizerβs presence is meaningful.
βHeβs one of our big-time leaders,β Dyer said. βHeβs one of those guys who wants to see his team win more than he wants to succeed. It goes a long way.
βFor me, as one of his teammates and good buddies, itβs cool to see him out here caring as much as he does. He truly cares about our team and cares about each one of us as much as he cares about himself.β
Fraizer β whoβs hitting .412 with a team-high 28 RBIs β was scheduled for surgery this week. He could be out anywhere from four weeks to two-plus months.
Dyer the duffer
Dyerβs on-deck routine includes three simulated golf swings. He started doing it shortly before the 2019 season began.
βItβs to help me stay connected and stay through the baseball,β said Dyer, whoβs every bit of his listed 6-4. βWhen I do those three swings, itβs kind of like a mental reminder to stay through the ball, donβt pull off, donβt do anything other than (what) youβre supposed to.
β(With) a golf swing, if you pull off the ball, youβre going to slice it. If you go around the ball, youβre going to hook it.β
Does Dyer play golf?
βEvery now and then,β he said. βIβm pretty good at driving. Everything else, nah.β
Inside pitch
- UA junior second baseman Cameron Cannon ranks in the top two in the conference in hits (35), runs (30), doubles (12) and total bases (59). He leads the Wildcats in home runs (four), batting average (.417), on-base percentage (.500) and slugging percentage (.702).
- UCLA has three qualifying pitchers with sub-3.00 ERAs: reliever Kyle Mora (0.82) and starters Jack Ralston (1.86) and Zach Pettway (2.67). Pettway, a right-hander, was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after tossing seven shutout innings against Oregon State. Heβs tied for the league lead in strikeouts (39 in 33 2/3 innings).
- Expect to see Weems, fellow lefty Randy Labaut and right-handers Quinn Flanagan and Bryce Collins play prominent roles for Arizona against UCLA.
