LAFAYETTE, La. β After entering the postgame interview room Monday afternoon, Jay Johnson was asked to make an opening statement about his teamβs 6-3 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. The normally loquacious Arizona coach didnβt have much to say beyond these two words:
βNathan Bannister.β
The senior right-hander had just helped the Wildcats win a second consecutive elimination game in the NCAAβs Lafayette Regional with a heroic performance. Three days after throwing 96 pitches in Arizonaβs regional-opening victory over Sam Houston State, Bannister pitched into the eighth inning in sweltering heat and under extreme pressure.
He exited with a three-run lead and with another 102 pitches having been thrown. His teammates greeted him outside the dugout with handshakes, glove taps and fist bumps. The crowd at M.L. βTigueβ Moore Field β mostly consisting of Raginβ Cajuns fans β gave him a standing ovation.
βThis guyβs the national pitcher of the year. I donβt care what anybody says,β Johnson said of Bannister, who improved to 11-2 and was named the regionalβs most outstanding player.
βThereβs not one person in the country that is more valuable to their teamβs success in 2016 than Nathan.β
It took four years at the UA β and a newfound devotion to conditioning β for Bannister to become the Wildcatsβ staff ace.
It took until the seventh inning of Arizonaβs elimination game against Sam Houston State on Sunday night for Johnson to decide Bannister would start on two daysβ rest.
βIt was a pretty easy decision once we knew he was OK and willing,β Johnson said.
Bannister said Saturdayβs rainout helped him get ready. He was able to lift and condition at the team hotel.
He had done something like this once before, as a senior at Liberty High in Peoria. But as Bannister noted: βThat was four years ago. A lot can change.β
The way teams handle pitchers has changed over the years. Many baseball analysts and medical experts would consider Bannister throwing 198 pitches in a four-day span an unnecessary risk β even a reckless act.
βI would never compromise anything with him or his future unless we had 100 percent conviction and commitment to completing this task,β Johnson said. βThe other thing is, heβs a little bit bigger than me, and if I didnβt let him pitch, I might get pummeled into the ground.β
Bannister said he wasnβt sore after the game. He didnβt have an ice pack on his arm.
βIβm pretty much going off adrenaline now,β Bannister said.
It carried him through seven-plus innings of three-run, winning baseball.
Small ball
In many ways, the second game between the teams was the opposite of the first.
In their first meeting, on Sunday, the Raginβ Cajuns jumped to a 3-0 lead, played from ahead throughout and kept the pressure on the Wildcats with persistent small-ball execution.
Arizona flipped the script in Mondayβs early game.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the first and two in the second. They executed six sacrifice bunts in the game, including three successful squeeze bunts. Shortstop Louis Boyd had three sacrifices and drove in two runs with safety squeeze bunts up the first-base line.
βTheyβre a very good bunting team. We knew that,β Raginβ Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux said. βThe problem with the bunt is when you start to mishandle it. Thatβs when an inning can spin out of control on you.β
On two of Arizonaβs bunt attempts, Louisiana-Lafayette failed to get outs. ULL got two outs to end the first inning when the Wildcats attempted the double squeeze that the Raginβ Cajuns pulled off Sunday. Bobby Dalbec got the bunt down to score Alfonso Rivas III, but ULL second baseman Joe Robbins threw out Ryan Aguilar at the plate.
Inside pitch
β’ Four other Wildcats made the all-regional team: Aguilar, Dalbec, outfielder Zach Gibbons and catcher Cesar Salazar.
β’ Bannister became the first Arizona pitcher to reach 11 wins in a season since 2012, when Kurt Heyer (13) and Konner Wade (11) did it.
β’ Junior Kevin Ginkel earned his third save of the season in Mondayβs first game, pitching 1ΒΊ scoreless innings. He entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth and got ULLβs Kennon Fontenot to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
