Arizona will be without its top two left-handed relief pitchers for this weekend’s Super Regional series against Ole Miss.
Randy Abshier and Gil Luna have been placed on interim suspension by the UA's dean of students office after a recent off-campus incident involving other university students. The two were deemed to have violated the student code of conduct.
The Wildcats and Rebels will play Game 1 of their best-of-three series at 6 p.m. Friday.
“The players will not be participating in tonight’s game," a UA athletic department spokesman said. "Consistent with the students’ privacy rights, we are not able to provide any additional details at this time.”
Abshier and Luna emerged over the second half of the season as two of the Wildcats’ most effective relievers. Abshier, a third-year sophomore, is 4-0 with a 2.91 ERA in 20 appearances. Luna, a fourth-year junior, is 1-0 with a team-best 1.69 ERA in 14 appearances. Each has one save.
Arizona (43-15) faces Ole Miss (44-20) are playing this weekend for a spot in the College World Series.
If the UA should win, it’s possible that Abshier and Luna could be reinstated before the CWS starts June 19.
Pitching depth has been one of Arizona’s strengths this season. The Wildcats still have multiple options out of the bullpen, but Abshier and Luna were two of their top three lefties.
Freshman Riley Cooper leads the team with 27 appearances and likely will have an even bigger role this weekend. The other left-handed option is junior Ian Churchill, who had a prominent role early in the season before falling out of favor. Churchill has an 8.53 ERA and was not on the active roster during last weekend’s Tucson Regional.
