SCOTTSDALE – Arizona rallied to defeat Oregon 8-6 in a back-and-forth game in the opener of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday at Scottsdale Stadium.
The fifth-seeded Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak – a sweep in Eugene last weekend – to avoid the losers’ bracket in the inaugural conference tourney. The UA will face the winner of the Stanford-Arizona State game on Thursday.
The top-seeded Cardinal and eighth-seeded Sun Devils were set to square off Wednesday afternoon. The UA game Thursday is slated for a 4:45 p.m. first pitch.
All-Pac-12 catcher Daniel Susac went 3 for 4 with two home runs, including a two-run shot in the ninth that gave the Wildcats breathing room.
Garen Caulfield (1) hits a two-run home run against the Oregon Ducks in the second inning during the PAC-12 Baseball Tournament at Scottsdale Stadium.
Arizona took a 3-0 lead on home runs by Garen Caulfield and Susac. Caulfield’s two-run blast in the second was just his second of the season. Susac’s solo shot over the bullpen in left in the third was almost identical to his subsequent dinger in the ninth. He’s second on the team with 11 home runs.
Right-hander Dawson Netz, making his first start since April 12, gave Arizona what it needed. He pitched 2 2/3 innings and was charged with two runs – both of which scored after he left the game.
Chip Hale was hoping to get two innings out of Netz, who missed most of the past two months because of an arm injury. But Netz was so efficient in setting down the Ducks in the first two frames – six straight outs on 16 pitches – that he was able to stay in for the third.
Arizona pitcher Dawson Netz delivers home in the third inning of the Wildcats’ eventual 8-6 win over Oregon on May 25, 2022, in Arizona’s first game of the 2022 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament at Scottsdale Stadium. Netz and his sister, UA softball pitcher Devyn Netz, both have experience pitching on their respective sport’s biggest stages. Dawson made an appearance on the mound for Arizona in the 2021 Men’s College World Series, with Devyn doing the same for the Wildcats in the circle during the 2022 Women’s College World Series.
After Tanner O’Tremba robbed Jacob Walsh of a hit with a diving catch in right-center, Bennett Thompson singled. Netz struck out Gavin Grant, at which point Hale had a decision to make: Leave Netz in to face leadoff batter Tanner Smith? Or bring in left-hander Javyn Pimental to face the left-handed-hitting Smith?
Hale visited the mound and decided to leave Netz in the game. Smith singled to right, advancing Thompson to third and bringing up Colby Shade, a right-handed batter. Hale then brought in Pimental, who surrendered consecutive singles that trimmed Arizona’s lead to 3-2.
The Wildcats made it 4-2 on Chase Davis’ single to left on an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the fifth. Another questionable coaching call flipped the game in Oregon’s favor in the bottom of the sixth.
Arizona outfielder Mac Bingham (7) high-fives his teammates after defeating the Oregon Ducks 8-6 during the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament at Scottsdale Stadium on May 26, 2022.
The Ducks put runners on second and third with one out via a walk and a double. Right-hander Chris Barraza remained in the game to face left-handed-hitting outfielder Anthony Hall, who smashed the first pitch he saw off the right-field foul pole for a three-run homer.
Oregon’s lead didn’t last long. Mac Bingham led off the seventh with a single to center. Two hit-by-pitches, sandwiching a walk, pushed across the tying run. Davis then gave Arizona a 6-5 lead with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Ducks put runners on first and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Quinn Flanagan. The All-Pac-12 selection then struck out Drew Cowley – who entered Wednesday batting .434 – and retired Josh Kasevich on a grounder to shortstop.
Flanagan again stranded two runners in the eighth. Trevor Long allowed one run in the ninth but earned his sixth save.
