Veteran right-hander Chandler Murphy had his best and longest outing to date. Freshman left-hander Eric Orloff continues to impress.
Suddenly, the Arizona Wildcats pitching staff is teeming with possibilities.
Murphy and Orloff combined for 7 1/3 stellar innings in No. 12 Arizonaβs 5-3 victory at Grand Canyon on Tuesday night β a critical development as the Wildcats continue their push to repeat as Pac-12 champions and NCAA regional hosts.
Murphy, who was unavailable until mid-March because of an arm issue, started and pitched a season-high four innings. In his previous two appearances, he couldnβt make it out of or past the first.
Murphy allowed three hits and one earned run while walking one batter and striking out three. He needed only 52 pitches β less than his previous two outings combined (59).
βChandler looked good. He felt good,β said UA coach Chip Hale, whose team opens a three-game series at Washington on Friday. βTo get four innings out of him was incredible. We thought two, maybe three.
βNow we have to make a decision on what we do next week. Does he start against ASU (on Tuesday), or do we try to get him around to the next Pac-12 series?β
Itβs a good problem to have. Arizonaβs weekend starters β TJ Nichols, Garrett Irvin and Dawson Netz β have a combined record of 8-3. Netz has the highest ERA among them at 4.76.
Murphy was projected to be one of the Wildcatsβ top three starters after posting a 7-0 mark with a 4.29 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 63 innings last season. He is steadily building his stamina, and it shouldnβt be long before heβs able to throw 100-plus pitches.
Hale and his staff already are discussing what they might do when Murphy gets to that point.
βWeβll have to figure that out,β Hale said. βOur starters obviously have been pretty good on the weekends. Do we use a piggyback system until heβs up to 100 pitches with Dawson maybe? That could be something down the road.
βBut itβs always good to have four legitimate starters in this league, especially when you get down to playoff time.β
That number could be even higher if Orloff continues to progress.
The newcomer from Northbrook, Illinois, allowed only one hit and two unearned runs in 3 1/3 innings vs. GCU. In his previous outing against UCLA, Orloff didnβt surrender a hit in three frames.
Orloff has a 2.63 ERA in 13 2/3 innings, the fourth-best figure on the team.
βHeβs pushed himself to the point where you can think about him starting, especially some midweek games later on,β Hale said.
Orloffβs effectiveness stems largely from his changeup. It has an especially low spin rate, which causes it to tumble away from right-handed batters. After yielding two runs and loading the bases with nobody out in the fifth inning vs. New Mexico on March 23, Orloff threw 15 consecutive changeups to retire the next three batters.
βWe were throwing the changeup to play to the fastball,β UA catcher Daniel Susac said of Orloffβs outing at GCU. βSo weβd throw a couple of changes in there, then the fastball. As a hitter, you (see) a couple changeups, that fastball is gonna get on you a little quicker.
βHis fastball is pretty straight β it has a little bit of ride but not a lot of sink. That changeup is fading off of it very well.β
Lineup changes
The Wildcats debuted a new lineup configuration vs. the Lopes.
Mac Bingham moved up to the leadoff spot, with Nik McClaughry batting second. That pushed Susac down to third and Tanner OβTremba to fourth. Whether it sticks remains to be seen.
Hales wants more runners on base when Susac and OβTremba come to the plate. But Hale doesnβt want to limit their at-bats.
βWeβll talk about it for the weekend,β he said. βWe like to get Daniel and βOTβ up there as much as we can.β
Meanwhile, Tony Bullard made his first start of the season at third base. Bullard, who missed the start of the campaign and was limited to DH duty because of a shoulder injury, didnβt have to make any throws. But heβs able to get the ball across the diamond, and his return to the field enables Garen Caulfield to move to his more natural spot at second base.
Arizona will have more defensive options whenever Jack Grant returns from a knee injury. Tyler Casagrande, who has started 17 games, gives Hale another chess piece. Casagrande is a natural outfielder but has proved he can play second base adequately.
βWeβve got to be creative a little bit,β Hale said. βSome it will be hot-hand situations.β
Slow and steady
Holden Christian finished the GCU game for his fourth save. It was a relatively clean outing for the left-hander, who has allowed only five hits in 12 innings this season β but also has issued seven walks, thrown five wild pitches and hit two batters.
Christianβs lone blown save came in the Pac-12 opener at Cal. The Golden Bears scored four runs in the ninth inning β three on wild pitches, one on a passed ball.
Susac took the blame for that loss and learned a valuable lesson in the process.
βI spiraled that out, not stopping a couple balls,β Susac said. βI sped up my signs, which in turn sped up him.
βThe big emphasis for me is to slow everything down. When he goes slower, it works a lot better.β
Christian retired four straight batters to close the second game of the Stanford series on March 20. Susac purposely waited as long as he could to give Christian the sign for the last pitch against the Cardinalβs Drew Bowser. He struck out swinging.
βIt made Bowser think and in turn let Holden slow down and work to the speed he wants to,β Susac said. βThe whole thing is just tempo with him.β
Inside pitch
Washington (14-10, 5-4 Pac-12) has won two in a row and five of its past seven. The Huskies rank ninth in the conference in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Their 3.58 ERA ranks second.
Arizona (18-7, 6-3) ranks in the top three in the league in runs, hits, extra-base hits, total bases, walks, average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The Wildcatsβ ERA of 4.13 ranks fourth.
Susac is second in the league in batting average (.411) behind only Oregonβs Colby Shade (.412). Susac ranks fourth in slugging percentage (.670) and is tied for sixth in RBIs (24). He leads the conference in doubles (13).
UW reliever Stefan Raeth leads the Pac-12 with a 0.96 ERA. The right-hander is 4-0 with a 0.71 WHIP and 41 strikeouts in 28 innings.
Arizonaβs Friday night starter, TJ Nichols, ranks fifth with a 2.04 ERA. Nichols (3-1) will oppose fellow righty Jared Engman (2-3, 5.34) in the series opener.
Because they were flying from Phoenix to Seattle on Thursday morning, Hale elected to have the Wildcats remain in Phoenix after the GCU game. They practiced at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, where players and coaches interacted with ex-Cats Mark Melancon and Kevin Ginkel, who are both playing for the Diamondbacks.
