Editorβs note: For more than six decades, the UA has been college baseball royalty, making 17 College World Series appearances and winning four national championships. The Star is reliving each of the teamβs trips to Omaha.
1960: βLaruppingβ ends season on sour note
What went down: Arizona beat nemesis Oklahoma State in its first game in Omaha, then fell to the two eventual participants in the CWS championship series β Minnesota and USC. A 13-1 defeat to the Trojans marked the end of the UAβs season. USC scored four times in the third inning and another four times in the fourth as it handed the Wildcats their worst-ever College World Series loss.
Minnesota went on to win its second CWS title with a βwalk-off walkβ against USC in the winner-take-all final game.
From the archives: The Starβs Abe Chanin wrote that USCβs 13-1 win was a βlarupping.β It came one day after USC blew a nine-run lead in what became a 12-11 loss to Minnesota. The marathon game ended after 1 a.m. Chanin added:
After coming off the field the Wildcats and Coach Frank Sancet were silent as they packed their equipment for the trip home. Plans are to return home Sunday night at 11 oβclock aboard Frontier Airlines flight 309.
He said it: Chanin wrote: Arizona had its troubles even before the game started. Second baseman Charlie Shoemaker took a cold drink just after taking part in a heated pre-game workout. βShoeβ became ill and didnβt enter the pregame drill.
After Omaha: Catcher Alan Hall spent his honeymoon in Omaha, celebrating by signing a lucrative contract with the New York Yankees organization. He spent five years in the minors. In 1996, the NCAA named him to the College World Series all-decade team for the 1940s and β50s. That same year, Hall was inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Fame.
The big number: 43. Arizona finished the 1960 season 43-9, tying the schoolβs all-time wins record set in 1956.
