There are no trades or in-season pickups in college baseball. That’s why, in the midst of his squad’s recent struggles, Arizona coach Jay Johnson doubled down on the idea that the Wildcats are who they are — and that they’re in this together.
“This is our team,” Johnson said twice in a three-day span.
But that doesn’t mean everything has to remain the same.
Johnson tweaked his pitching rotation and lineup Friday against College of Charleston. The changes had the desired effect … for a while.
Arizona was on the wrong end of another big inning. This time the Wildcats withstood it.
Arizona defeated College of Charleston 7-5 on a chilly night at Hi Corbett Field. The Wildcats had lost three of their previous five games, all at home.
Senior left-hander Avery Weems, starting on four days’ rest, set the tone by throwing strikes and inducing weak contact. Sophomore Donta Williams, hitting leadoff for the first time this season, reached base in all five of his at-bats and came around to score after four of them.
Weems cruised through five innings, allowing just two baserunners — one on an error — and striking out five. He encountered trouble in the sixth, when Arizona’s shaky defense led to yet another big inning.
The frame began with Charleston’s Luke Manzo hitting a grounder to the right of shortstop Cameron Cannon. Cannon’s throw to first came in low, and first baseman Tony Bullard couldn’t scoop it. It was Cannon’s second error of the contest — both on throws from the hole. He’d make another error in the seventh, giving him 10 in the past four games.
The Cougars would score five runs in the inning — all of them unearned. It was an all-too-familiar phenomenon: The Wildcats committed 14 errors, leading to 19 unearned runs, in their previous three games. They yielded seven runs to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in one sloppy inning last Saturday, eight to Michigan State this past Tuesday.
Williams gave Arizona a series of quality at-bats. He doubled to lead off the first after falling behind 0-2. He singled to lead off the third after fouling off five pitches. He tripled to lead off the sixth. And he singled to lead off the eighth on a 1-2 count.
Matt Fraizer brought him home after the latter with a double to right-center to make it 7-5. Fraizer, batting third for the first time, had three hits and four RBIs.
To stem the tide in the top of the sixth, Johnson came up with another new twist: He brought freshman right-hander Bryce Collins out of the bullpen. Collins’ first three appearances had been as a starter.
Collins walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, then induced a flyout to end the inning. He pitched three hitless innings after that to earn his first career save.
Losing at home, to anyone, had not been a common occurrence in Johnson’s first three seasons. The Wildcats went 72-20 at Hi Corbett from 2016-18, good for a .783 winning percentage. Add this season’s opening sweep over UMass Lowell, and those figures jumped to 76-20 and .792.
The three losses in five games to start this homestand dropped this year’s mark to 6-3 (.667).
Arizona never expects to lose at home. Nor do the Wildcats expect to give those games away.
“You’re going to lose games,” Johnson said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a team that’s been undefeated in the history of college baseball.
“But I think the part that’s been the most difficult to overcome is the how. They really believe in themselves at a high level. We were extremely prepared for the season. Some of the adversity has caught them a little off-guard. Now it’s about working past the adversity.”
Inside pitch
- Catcher/first baseman Matt Dyer was out because of a bruised hand.
- DH Tate Soderstrom was ejected at the end of the Michigan State game for arguing balls and strikes, resulting in him being suspended for the first two games of the Charleston series.
- Infielder Jacob Blas was in uniform and is close to returning. Blas started the first six games before leaving the team to attend to a personal matter.
