The Arizona Wildcats had trouble finishing off visiting Cal this weekend. Arizona did not finish the regular season the way it had hoped.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, they still have an opportunity to write a happy ending.
Despite losing its final two games β including a 7-4 setback Sunday at Hi Corbett Field β Arizona will participate in its second consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats will find out where that journey will begin when the field of 64 is announced Monday morning.
It wonβt start in Tucson. As expected, Arizona was not among the 16 regional hosts revealed Sunday evening. Back-to-back losses to Cal, among other factors, dropped the Wildcats to 23rd in RPI.
βI would have loved to have played here for all the great people that have come out and supported us,β UA coach Jay Johnson said. βThis field, this place means a lot to our team. (But) I have no reservation about getting on a plane Wednesday morning and doing what we need to do.β
Johnson has reason to be confident in his teamβs ability to win on the road in the postseason. The 2016 Wildcats went through Lafayette, Louisiana, and Starkville, Mississippi, en route to a berth in the College World Series. They finished as the national runners-up.
βObviously, I wanted to host,β UA senior shortstop Louis Boyd said. βBut there was a little part of me in the back of my head saying, βLetβs go on the road. Letβs take this thing on.β
βItβs fun being an underdog team, it really is. You donβt have anything to lose. With a team with as much talent as we have, if we play with the right mentality, weβre going to be a dangerous club.β
Arizonaβs approach and execution were slightly off in some critical situations Sunday. Fifteen Wildcats reached base against six Cal pitchers, but only four scored. Arizona went 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position; Cal was 6 for 9.
βWe left some things on the table,β Johnson said. βThis teamβs been really good (with runners in scoring position). Thatβs been a strength. Weβll tweak a couple things in practice this week and get ready to do that at a high level.β
Arizona (37-19, 16-14 Pac-12) led 4-0 through four innings. Cal (25-29, 15-15) scored two in the fifth and three in the seventh β all after the first two batters had been retired.
In the top of the seventh, with Arizona leading 4-2, reliever Landon Faulkner worked the count to 0-2 on Calβs third batter, Tanner Dodson. But Faulkner left a change-up up and in the strike zone, and Dodson hit a double to right. That led to a three-run inning and a lead the Golden Bears wouldnβt surrender.
βThrow strike three (and) we have a two-run lead going into the eighth inning,β Johnson said. βAgain, the margin between winning and losing is really small.β
Cal scored twice more in the top of the ninth. Arizona loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half, but Sawyer Gieseke grounded out to shortstop.
It was an unfortunate ending to the regular season for Gieseke and his fellow seniors. Eight of them were honored in a ceremony before the game, with each player giving flowers to his mother and receiving a framed jersey. The ceremony concluded with a Gieseke-produced tribute video that played on the scoreboard.
After winning six games in a row β and seven in conference play β Arizona has lost two straight. But the Wildcats have more baseball to play.
βI hope it doesnβt sound bad, but weβre already on to the new thing,β Boyd said. βYeah, of course you want to win every ballgame that you play. But itβs exciting. The playoffs are exciting.
βIt doesnβt matter whether we host or if we play (No. 1) Oregon State in the first round. We donβt care who we play. We have good vibes going in. Weβre going to work off that.β
Inside pitch
β’ Johnson lifted starter Cody Deason after five innings and 60 pitches to preserve him for a possible relief appearance Friday. Johnson also held out top reliever Michael Flynn.
β’ Boyd went 2 for 4, registering his third straight multihit performance and fourth in his past five games.
β’ Gieseke started at third base, his first appearance in the starting lineup this season.
β’ Arizona dropped from 16th to 18th in Baseball Americaβs final Top 25. The publication projected the Wildcats as a No. 2 seed in the Wake Forest Regional in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
β’ The official field of 64 will be announced at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.
