Arizona's Donta Williams (23) lets out a roar as he crosses the plate with the game winner in the bottom of the ninth, scoring from second on a Jacob Berry (15) shot into left field for a 5-4 win over Dixie State in the inning of their game at Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz., May 29, 2021.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Arizona is the 2021 Pac-12 champion. The Wildcats will be among the 16 national seeds revealed Sunday.

But as the malaise of Friday bled into Saturday, it was fair to wonder: When would the Cats start playing like champions again?

One night after squandering a four-run lead to end a 13-game home winning streak, No. 8 Arizona trailed Division I newcomer Dixie State 4-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning. A sense of unease fell over Hi Corbett Field. The Wildcats couldn’t possibly end a stellar regular season with two straight losses, could they?

Arizona found its form halfway through the finale and won it in a walkoff. Jacob Berry’s double – off the glove of leaping left fielder Chase Rodriguez – scored Donta’ Williams, giving the Wildcats a 5-4 victory in front of a season-high 2,506 fans.

After swarming Berry at second and dousing him with water, the Cats shifted into celebration mode. They donned black “Pac-12 Champs” T-shirts, hoisted a blue title trophy, took a plethora of photos and enjoyed the moment with their families.

“It was just a great way to wrap up our regular season,” Berry said. “We worked really hard to this point. We deserve to be Pac-12 champions. This win was a good way to top (it) off and get us ready for the postseason.”

Arizona won the season-ending non-conference series against a Dixie State team that played like it had nothing to lose. The Wildcats finished the campaign with a 40-15 record. They were unofficially No. 8 in RPI entering Sunday and are expected to earn a top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“There's no question about it. It's not even a debate, in my opinion,” UA coach Jay Johnson said. “I don't know if it's (No.) 4, I don’t know if it’s 5, I don’t know if it’s 6, but there's no way that's not happening.”

The host sites will be announced late Sunday afternoon. The bracket will be revealed Monday morning.

Arizona catcher Daniel Susac (6) slaps the tag on Dixie State's Tyson Fisher (46) following the throw from third, keeping the go-ahead run from scoring in a 4-4 tie in the top of the eighth inning of their game at Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz., May 29, 2021.

Arizona likely wouldn’t have won without a spectacular relief effort from right-hander TJ Nichols. The freshman entered in the top of the third inning with the Wildcats down three and shifted the tenor of the game.

Nichols allowed only one hit in 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.

“We won the game because of that performance,” Johnson said.

Nichols’ only mistake came when he fired an errant pickoff throw to first base in the eighth inning, enabling Tyson Fisher to scamper to third with one out. Nichols exited for Vince Vannelle. With the infield in, Tyler Hollow hit a grounder to the left of third baseman Tony Bullard, who speared the ball and whipped it home to retire Fisher. Catcher Daniel Susac then threw out Hollow at second after he tried to advance on a pitch in the dirt.

Vannelle, who was honored along with classmate Preston Price during a pregame Senior Day ceremony, struck out the side in the ninth to earn his fifth win of the season.

Pitching was the main issue in Game 2, which Arizona lost 11-9. Saturday starter Garrett Irvin wasn’t sharp – he lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, four runs and three walks without striking out a batter – but it was the Cats’ defense that faltered in the third inning.

With Shane Taylor on first via a leadoff single, Jake Engel (Ironwood Ridge High School) hit a roller toward third. Bullard fielded the ball cleanly but threw high to first, enabling both runners to advance one base.

First baseman Branden Boissiere tracked the ball down and threw high to home – even though Taylor wasn’t trying to score. The errant throw allowed him to cross the plate and gave the Trailblazers a 2-1 lead that would grow to 4-1 by inning’s end.

The advantage would have been greater if not for a fine defensive play by left fielder Blake Paugh. Making his first start since April 17 with Mac Bingham (hand) out of the lineup, Paugh scooped up a single and threw out Tanner Harper at the plate to end the frame.

Defense has been more of a liability than an asset for Arizona this season. The Wildcats committed four errors Saturday. They entered the day with the second-most errors (68) and the second-lowest fielding percentage (.967) in the Pac-12.

That wasn’t the topic when Johnson made a rare visit to the mound after the two-error sequence. He simply sought to calm the Cats down.

“Just a quick reminder of ... ‘Hey, everything's gonna be all right,’ ” he said. “ ‘There's more people up here than we've had. Tony made an aggressive-mistake error. It kind of feels sideways coming off a weird game last night. Let's get reset.’ ”

Arizona’s rally began in the fifth inning, when Williams drove home Nik McClaughry with a triple. Williams then scored on Boissiere’s single.

McClaughry plated the tying run in the sixth with a sacrifice bunt.

Inside pitch

  • Arizona notched 40 regular-season wins for the first time since 2007 and the 13th time in program history.
  • Boissiere had reached base nine consecutive times – eight hits plus a walk – before striking out in the seventh inning.
  • Williams has reached base safely in 41 consecutive games. It’s the second-lost streak by a Wildcat since 1998 (Zach Gibbons, 48 games, 2016).
  • In addition to honoring Price and Vannelle, the UA acknowledged 10 players who have received their degrees. Price was among the 10.
  • Engel was among the Dixie State seniors playing his final game. He reached base via a bunt single in his first at-bat and finished 2 for 4.
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Contact sports reporter Michael Lev at 573-4148 or mlev@tucson.com. On Twitter @michaeljlev