They could have been heralded heroes.
They became forgotten footnotes.
Arizona Wildcats sophomore Tate Soderstrom doubled to drive in the tying run in the eighth inning against Arizona State on Sunday. Senior Justin Wylie singled to knock in the go-ahead run.
Those hits capped a four-run rally and put the Cats in position to steal a game from the Sun Devils. It didn’t work out that way. Arizona lost 17-16, booting a ball in the bottom of the ninth to allow the winning run to score
ASU had a sweep. The UA had another brutal loss that obscured the positive contributions some Wildcats are making.
Take Wylie, for instance. The graduate transfer from San Diego State has been a part-time player for the most part. In the fifth at-bat of his fifth start, he fouled off five pitches before singling through the left side to score Soderstrom.
Four days later, Wylie took no joy in his accomplishment.
“You’ve gotta take it with a grain of salt,” he said Thursday. “The main goal is always to win as a team.”
Arizona (13-14, 2-7 Pac-12) looks to end a seven-game losing streak when it hosts Washington (14-9, 5-4) in a three-game series starting Friday. Wylie and Soderstrom are likely to be part of the mix as UA coach Jay Johnson continues to search for a winning formula.
Wylie played three seasons at SDSU, facing Johnson and Nevada as a freshman in 2015. After hitting .305 with four home runs and 39 RBIs as a sophomore, Wylie saw his role greatly reduced.
He and his family decided to initiate a grad-transfer plan. Wylie remained at SDSU to get his degree but redshirted in 2018 so he’d have another year of eligibility.
Arizona made a lot of sense. The coaching staff was familiar with him, and Wylie lettered at Hamilton High School in Chandler. His parents, John and Cheryl, are less than two hours away.
“It’s awesome,” said Wylie, who’s hitting .304 in 23 at-bats. “They’re able to come to the games. I see them on the weekends sometimes. They’re able to bring me food, which I take full advantage of.”
Wylie, who has started in the outfield and at second base, is one of only three seniors on the UA roster.
“He’s played and been on all sides of it – success, failure – and has been a real good, stabilizing force,” Johnson said. “Last weekend I really saw some things out of him from a leadership standpoint. Even though it’s his first year in the program, he’s well-respected by his teammates. I’m certainly glad we have him.”
Wylie understands and relishes his role, saying: “My job right now is to use my experience to help the team in whatever role I’m put in. Whether that’s on the bench helping the guys out, or it’s in right field, left field or in the box, I feel like I can contribute to the team’s success.”
Soderstrom showed promise as a freshman. He appeared in 40 games, starting 15. He batted only .242, but 10 of his 22 hits went for extra bases (eight doubles, two triples).
Soderstrom couldn’t lock down a starting job to open this season, serving mainly as a part-time DH and backup outfielder. Matt Fraizer’s hand injury opened a spot in the lineup, and Soderstrom has taken advantage of increased playing time.
Soderstrom is 5 for 10 with three walks and only one strikeout in his past four games. That includes a career-best 4 for 5 with five RBIs against ASU on Sunday.
Johnson said Soderstrom has made the most progress mentally – cultivating and sustaining a positive mindset.
“I’ve been able to keep the game a lot slower,” said Soderstrom, the son of Steve Soderstrom, who pitched in three games for the San Francisco Giants in 1996. “It helps you stay in the moment better. It helps you see the ball better at the plate. Just kind of stick with it through some failure.”
The Wildcats have experienced plenty of late. Their losing streak is the longest in Johnson’s three-plus seasons. Returning to the NCAA Tournament feels like a long shot roughly halfway through the season.
Like they did in the eighth inning Sunday, Soderstrom and Wylie plan to keep grinding away.
“You’ve just gotta keep fighting and working through some stuff,” Soderstrom said. “At some point it’s going to happen for us.
“As long as we stick together as a team and keep working, we’re going to be just fine.”
By the numbers
Arizona is under .500 despite ranking second in the conference in runs, hits, doubles, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The UA ranks fourth in the nation in runs per game (9.33).
Washington doesn’t rank higher than sixth in the league in any major offensive category but has done a much better job than Arizona on the mound and in the field.
The Huskies are fourth in the Pac-12 in ERA (3.17) and have allowed the second-fewest walks (74). The Wildcats are ninth in ERA (5.87) and have yielded the most walks (139).
Washington ranks first in the league in fielding percentage (.981). Arizona ranks last (.952). The Wildcats have committed three times as many errors (48) as the Huskies (16) and have allowed 38 more unearned runs.
Inside pitch
- UA sophomore shortstop Jacob Blas is out this weekend because of pain in his left knee. Blas, who left Sunday’s game early, underwent an MRI Thursday afternoon and will be re-evaluated next week. Freshman Dayton Dooney or junior Cameron Cannon will shift to short in Blas’ absence.
- UA redshirt sophomore Matthew Dyer was named to the watch list for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award (formerly named after Johnny Bench). Dyer is batting .361 and has made only two errors playing catcher, first base and outfield.
- UW junior Nick Kahle also made the Posey watch list. Kahle ranks fourth in the Pac-12 with a .416 batting average and third with a .547 on-base percentage. He has a 24-9 walk-to-strikeout ratio; every other Pac-12 player with 13 or more walks has struck out at least 11 times. Kahle also has thrown out 7 of 9 would-be base stealers.
- Redshirt-junior left-hander Randy Labaut (2-3, 6.82 ERA) will start for Arizona on Friday against freshman right-hander David Rhodes (4-2, 1.75).
- Home field has been a huge factor in recent Arizona-Washington matchups, with the home side winning each series since Johnson became coach. The Wildcats swept the Huskies at Hi Corbett Field in 2017, including a pair of walk-offs, before being swept last year in Seattle.
