LUBBOCK, Texas – The Arizona Wildcats’ weather-delayed postseason opener is scheduled to begin at 7:06 p.m. Tucson time.
Arizona, the No. 2 seed in the Lubbock Regional, faces No. 3 seed Sam Houston State in a rematch of last year’s opening game in Lafayette, Louisiana. As happened last time, the game was delayed because of weather. It was supposed to begin at 4 p.m. Tucson time.
The winner will face top seed Texas Tech, which defeated No. 4 seed Delaware 5-2 earlier Friday. The loser will face the Blue Hens in an elimination game Saturday.
As expected, Arizona will start senior left-hander JC Cloney against the Bearkats. He’s 7-1 with a 2.94 ERA.
In a surprise move, Sam Houston State is going with freshman left-hander Kyle Backhus (4-4, 4.35) instead of senior right-hander Heath Donica.
Here’s the rest of Arizona’s lineup:
- Cal Stevenson, RF
- JJ Matijevic, 1B
- Jared Oliva, CF
- Alfonso Rivas, DH
- Ryan Haug, LF
- Nick Quintana, 3B
- Cesar Salazar, C
- Kyle Lewis, 2B
- Louis Boyd, SS
