FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arizona’s bats went quiet at the worst possible time.
Now the Wildcats are headed home for the summer.
Arizona was ousted from the NCAA Tournament’s Fayetteville Regional on Saturday night, falling 9-3 to Santa Clara in a rain-delayed elimination game at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Wildcats made the tournament for the third straight season but failed to advance out of regional play for the second year in a row. Last year they won two games to advance to the regional final in Coral Gables. This year: two-and-out.
“I’m really proud of these guys,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “They worked their tails off all year to get to this point and play in this tournament. It wasn’t easy. We went through a lot of ups and downs. And they kept fighting. ...
“We just couldn’t get it done these two games. We just didn’t play like we did down the stretch. I’m disappointed with that, but it doesn’t diminish what this group has done for the university. There’s guys that are done with their eligibility that have been to Omaha, have been to regionals and been great Wildcats.”
Arizona coach Chip Hale gives a thumbs up to fans before what turned out to be the Wildcats’ final game of the season — a loss to Santa Clara in the Fayetteville Regional on Saturday night.
Confoundingly, Arizona’s offense never could get anything going in Fayetteville. The Wildcats scored only seven runs in two games; they were averaging 8.6 runs entering the tournament.
Arizona (33-26) finished with three straight losses after winning seven of eight, advancing to the Pac-12 Tournament championship game and impressing the NCAA selection committee enough to earn one of the final four at-large berths.
The Wildcats had hoped to mimic Ole Miss’ run last year, when the Rebels were the last team in and won the College World Series (eliminating the Cats along the way). But Arizona didn’t play sound baseball after it got to Fayetteville.
The Wildcats committed five errors in two games. They failed to communicate when base runners were stealing. They also struggled to produce with runners on base and/or in scoring position.
Before the ninth inning, Arizona was 1 for 21 (.048) with runners on base and 1 for 9 (.111) with RISP in the regional.
The Wildcats were batting .348 and .339 in those situations entering the NCAA Tournament.
“We just didn’t have it really at the plate these past couple days,” said star slugger Chase Davis, who went 0 for 4 in what’s expected to be his final game as a Wildcat.
“Just baseball. We played hard. Chips didn’t fall our way. We left it all out there.”
For the second night in a row, Arizona’s starter failed to deliver the tone-setting performance the Wildcats needed.
Right-hander Aiden May, who excelled in two starts in the Pac-12 Tournament, struggled to throw strikes. He walked three batters and hit one in the first three innings, allowing one run in each frame.
May didn’t give up much hard contact, though, and one of the runs against him was unearned. He also struck out seven batters in 4 innings, and those three runs were the only ones he surrendered.
Usually, a performance like that is plenty good enough for Arizona to win. But neither the Wildcats’ offense nor their bullpen rose to the occasion.
Arizona shortstop Nik McClaughry, left, reaches to tag Santa Clara’s Eamonn Lance during the Wildcats’ game against the Broncos in the Fayetteville Regional on Saturday night. Arizona lost 9-3.
Santa Clara starter Cade Plichard limited Arizona to one run on three hits in six innings. He struck out four and didn’t issue a walk.
“He did a wonderful job against us,” Hale said. “He kept the ball down. He was a little different than (other pitchers) we’ve faced.
“You just gotta to tip your cap to Rusty (Broncos coach Rusty Filter) and what he’s done with that pitching staff and the way they played. They came out aggressive, got some hits early, got on the board and put us behind the eight ball a little bit.
“When that happens, sometimes hitters want to try too hard. They forget, ‘Hey, we got nine at-bats, we’ll eventually get them — which we did. We started to get there. ... We started to get there in the ninth. It’s just, we gave up too many runs.”
The Broncos scored six runs between the sixth and eighth innings against three UA relievers, steadily expanding their lead.
Santa Clara will face the loser of the Arkansas-TCU game Sunday night. The Razorbacks and Horned Frogs will meet in a winners’ bracket game Sunday afternoon.
Arizona and Santa Clara were supposed to play six hours earlier than they actually did. But as is often the case when the Wildcats go on the road for a regional, Mother Nature had other ideas.
The Wildcats and Broncos both arrived at the ballpark before the inclement weather. Both had to find ways to occupy themselves for the entirety of the afternoon before the NCAA decided the game would be played.
Most of Arizona’s players and coaches hung out in the Randal Tyson Track Center, snacking, napping and inventing games involving cones, cups and whatever other objects they could find.
The Wildcats’ bats finally awakened in the ninth inning, when freshman Mason White hit a two-run homer, his 10th of the season. Mac Bingham hit a screaming line drive to short to end the game.
Inside pitch
• The Broncos stole seven bases without being caught. UA catcher Tommy Splaine went 0 for 39 trying to nab runners this season.
• Splaine appeared to be laboring while running up the first base line during each of his two at-bats. Tyler Casagrande pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning. Hale said Splaine has “got some injuries he’s gonna have to nurse back this summer. They really exploited him. He couldn’t get out of his crouch very well.”
• Arizona failed to win a game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. The Wildcats had one at least one game in their previous 11 postseason appearances.
Arizona coach Chip Hale closes the book on the 2023 season after the Wildcats were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament via a 9-3 loss to Santa Clara (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)
