As dogpiles go, this one was a doozy.
The Arizona Wildcats finally caught up to Alfonso Rivas III at second base. The entire team — sans one player, whom we’ll get to later — engulfed him. They drenched him in water and Gatorade. They ripped off his jersey.
Rivas loved every second of it.
“As a little kid, you dream of getting that walk-off hit,” said Rivas, who did just that Sunday afternoon at Hi Corbett Field – singling with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to complete a 6-5, come-from-behind victory over No. 5 Oregon State.
“All those emotions are kicking in. It’s an awesome feeling. I wish it for every single one of us.”
It wasn’t just the exuberance of the celebration that stuck with Rivas and the rest of the Wildcats after the game. They knew they had just done something significant. They had gone from being on life support to pulling off their most important win of the season.
“The best part about today was that it wasn’t smooth sailing,” UA coach Jay Johnson said. “They stayed with it, and they got a little glimpse of what the best version of themselves is for the first time this year.”
Arizona trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. The Wildcats scored three runs in the eighth to tie it and one in the ninth to win it.
In doing so, the UA won a regular-season series against at top-five opponent for the first time since April 1, 2012, when then-No. 8 Arizona completed a sweep over No. 2 Stanford. The 2018 Wildcats have won three straight series and nine of their past 11 games. At 19-11, 4-5 in the Pac-12, Arizona again is trending toward the postseason after a slow start.
“We’ve had some adversity,” Johnson said. “Not strange to any of us, because the game is really hard. But they’re punching through it.”
The Wildcats had the Beavers (24-6, 7-5) on the ropes early Sunday, failed to knock them out, then had to fight back. Although Arizona scored the tying runs in the bottom of the eighth, the rally actually started at the end of the seventh.
After striking out Ryan Haug to end the inning, OSU freshman reliever Kevin Abel stared at the UA dugout. The Wildcats did not appreciate that gesture. Nor did Beavers catcher Adley Rutschman, who saw what was happening and ordered Abel to cease and desist.
Arizona senior reliever Robby Medel hopped over the railing and got ejected. Other players barked at Abel. Pitching coach Dave Lawn directed his troops to remain in the dugout. First-base coach Sergio Brown yapped at the umpires.
The Wildcats got mad. Shortly after, they got even.
“They punched us in the teeth. We didn’t do anything back. It was kind of like that for a little bit,” said third baseman Nick Quintana, who went 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs. “And then Robby Medel getting thrown out of the game, that kind of sparked a little energy in us. It fired us up.”
“If you look back,” Rivas added, “it kind of bit them in the butt.”
Abel had thrown two hitless innings, so OSU coach Pat Casey wasn’t inclined to lift him. But Abel wasn’t as locked in during the eighth. He walked Cal Stevenson to lead off the inning, then hit Cameron Cannon on a 1-2 pitch. Abel threw two wild pitches — the second one plating Stevenson — before walking Rivas.
Casey summoned closer Jake Mulholland, who surrendered an RBI single to Quintana. Cesar Salazar advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt.
Jacob Blas — who had entered the game in the seventh inning after missing the previous two contests because of an emergency root canal — then drilled a grounder to the left of shortstop Cadyn Grenier. Grenier made a sliding stop and threw out Blas, but Rivas scored to tie the game.
Matt Fraizer led off the bottom of the ninth with an infield single and advanced to second on Grenier’s throwing error. Rivas came to the plate with one out and the bases loaded. He lofted a 1-1 slider from Mulholland over the head of drawn-in left fielder Kyle Nobach to score Frazier and commence the celebration.
“I knew it was going to happen,” said Quintana, who was waiting on deck. “Right as he made contact, I started running.”
It was a redemptive moment for Rivas, who had struck out in the bottom of the third inning with runners on second and third and nobody out. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Salazar missed a squeeze bunt.
Arizona didn’t end up scoring, and its 2-0 lead eventually turned into a 5-2 deficit.
“That was miserable,” Johnson said. “Our best hitter strikes out on a tough pitch. Cesar is a great bunter, as he demonstrated in the ninth inning. He just kind of air-balled it.
“That’s not the story. The story is recollecting and sticking with it through some adversity and really competing. They set a new bar for themselves today.”
Inside pitch
- Arizona won for the first time this season when trailing after seven innings.
- The Wildcats walked eight times for the second straight game. They drew three walks in Friday’s series-opening loss.
- Cannon and Salazar are tied for the team lead in batting average at .365. Cannon is hitting a team-best .394 in Pac-12 play.
- Quintana has raised his average from .244 to .321 over the past eight games. He has hit all of his team-high five home runs during that span.
- Senior right-hander Zach Stone, who pitched the final inning Saturday night, started and three perfect frames before yielding two runs in the fourth. Closer Tylor Megill pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings to earn his first win.
- Arizona visits Grand Canyon on Tuesday before a three-game series at USC starting Friday. The UA’s next home game is a week from Tuesday against BYU.
