SCOTTSDALE — Despite not having the services of star catcher Daniel Susac for the back half of the game, Arizona defeated rival Arizona State 8-6 Friday at Scottsdale Stadium to stay alive in the Pac-12 Tournament.
After surviving against the eighth-seeded Sun Devils in an elimination game, the fifth-seeded Wildcats will play another against top-seeded Stanford on Saturday morning. The Cardinal clobbered the Cats 15-8 on Thursday. Arizona (37-22) would have to beat Stanford — which has won 14 in a row — twice to advance to Sunday’s tournament championship game.
Like the tourney opener against Oregon, Arizona needed a late-inning rally to prevail. Mac Bingham delivered the key hit, a three-RBI triple over the head of counterpart Joe Lampe in center field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. The hit turned a 6-5 deficit into an 8-6 lead.
Susac, the 2021 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a semifinalist this year for the Golden Spikes Award, did not come out for the top of the fourth inning because of a stomach bug.
“He was throwing up,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “He’s been real sick. We contemplated not even starting him. Once he started throwing up, James (Ready), the trainer just said, ‘We gotta get him out.’”
Before exiting, Susac asked Hale if he could take one more at-bat. That came in the bottom of the third. Susac smacked a three-run home run to right field, his third of the tournament and 12th of the season.
Susac did not look comfortable rounding the bases. Cameron LaLiberte then replaced him behind the plate. Backup catcher Tommy Splaine also wasn’t available because of a neck injury.
“‘LaLa’ was our last guy,” Hale said. “So it was like, ‘Hey, let’s get as much as we can out of Dan.’”
Hale said it was doubtful that Susac could catch Saturday, especially with the game starting at 9 a.m. He could be available to DH.
If Susac is Arizona’s most important player, right-hander TJ Nichols might be No. 2.
You hate to put the fate of a team on the shoulders of one guy — especially in baseball — but Nichols fits that description for the 2022 Wildcats.
If Nichols, an uber-talented sophomore right-hander, can recapture the form he displayed earlier this season or late last year, the Cats can make another postseason run. If not, they’ll have a tough time winning an NCAA regional.
Nichols, who entered Friday with a 5.47 ERA, took a step in the right direction. He pitched six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. Critically, Nichols walked only one batter. He had averaged 2.89 walks in his previous nine starts and had multiple walks in eight of them.
“He did great,” Hale said. “I was really happy to see that going into next week. It’ll be huge for us.”
Offense hasn’t been an issue for Arizona during the Pac-12 Tournament. The Wildcats scored eight runs in each of their first two games. They also handled Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Alex Williams of Stanford better than any recent Cardinal opponent.
It took until the third inning for Arizona to size up ASU left-hander Adam Tulloch, who entered Friday with an 8.03 ERA. The Wildcats had no hits through two. They posted five runs in the third to take a 5-2 lead.
Susac delivered the first blow. The next batter, Tanner O’Tremba, followed with a solo homer to about the same spot in right field. It was O’Tremba’s second home run in as many games and his 10th of the season.
A single by Chase Davis, a double by Tony Bullard and a sacrifice fly by Garen Caulfield scored the fifth run.
ASU trimmed its deficit to one with a two-run fifth. Although both runs were earned, one scored on a rare error by UA shortstop Nik McClaughry.
The Sun Devils took the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-RBI double by freshman catcher Ryan Campos, a one-time UA signee. Campos lined a pitch from reliever Quinn Flanagan just past a diving Caulfield at second base. The ball rolled deep enough for two runners to score and for Campos to reach second.
Tanner O’Tremba and the Wildcats will take on Stanford on Saturday; they must win twice to advance to the Pac-12 title game.
Campos, once part of Arizona’s 2021 signing class, opened the scoring with a two-run single in the first inning. His four RBIs tied his career high.
Davis and Bullard walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Caulfield sacrificed them to second and third. ASU then intentionally walked Noah Turley to load the bases with one out.
Pinch hitter Tyler Casagrande popped out to third off submarining right-hander Brock Peery. Bingham then hit a hard liner to center. Lampe took one false step, and the ball sailed over him to the wall.
“It’s win or go home,” Bingham said. “You definitely don’t want to go home. And you definitely don’t want to go home against your rival.
“So we came in with a lot of heart and a lot of fight. We knew no matter what, we wanted to get this win and do it for Chip and do it for the school.”
Chase Davis celebrates after scoring on Mac Bingham’s eighth-inning triple. The two-out extra-base hit proved to be the difference in the game.
Inside pitch
Arizona’s bench is extremely thin right now. In addition to Susac’s illness and Splaine’s injury, infielder Jack Grant (knee) is also unavailable.
Bingham, who batted ninth, was the only Wildcat to register multiple hits (2 for 4). He leads the Pac-12 with seven triples.
Arizona won the season series against ASU, three games to two. The Wildcats lost the first meeting before winning three of the next four.
Freshman right-hander Anthony Susac, Daniel’s cousin, will start against Stanford. Susac is 4-2 with an 8.39 ERA. He will face right-hander Joey Dixon (5-3, 3.12).
