SCOTTSDALE — Arizona rallied from a four-run deficit to upset No. 2 seed Oregon State 13-12 at the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday, sending the Wildcats into Friday’s semifinals.
As the No. 8 seed in the nine-team tournament, Arizona had to win its pool to advance. The Wildcats did just that, defeating ASU and OSU on consecutive days at Scottsdale Stadium.
The win over the Sun Devils was a relative breeze; the Wildcats scored four runs in the first and led 9-0 through four en route to a 12-3 triumph. The win over the Beavers required a determined comeback and a tense, hang-on-to-your-seats finish.
After squandering a four-run lead of their own, the Cats won it in the bottom of the ninth. Kiko Romero’s line single to center off OSU closer Ryan Brown scored Nik McClaughry and kept Arizona’s season alive.
The UA most likely will play No. 1 seed Stanford, assuming the Cardinal don’t go 0-2 in Pool A. They play their first game of the tournament Wednesday night vs. Cal.
Romero’s three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth gave Arizona its first lead, 9-8, and highlighted a six-run inning that made it 12-8.
In somewhat typical fashion, the Wildcats’ bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. The Beavers scored two runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to make it 12-12.
Chris Barraza pitched out of a first-and-third, no-out jam in the top of the ninth to keep the score tied.
After scoring four runs in the top of the first inning against Arizona State on Tuesday, Arizona surrendered four in the opening frame against OSU. All five of the Beavers’ hits came after Cam Walty retired the first two batters of the game.
Walty, who emerged as Arizona’s No. 1 starter after missing the beginning of the season because of injury, started on four days’ rest – two fewer than normal. He didn’t have the usual bite on his breaking ball and lasted only three innings, allowing six runs on nine hits.
The No. 1 offense in the Pac-12 kept chipping away, though. Chase Davis’ two-run homer in the bottom of the first made it 4-2. It was his 20th of 2023, tied for third most in school history.
McClaughry’s RBI single in the bottom of the second made it 4-3. After OSU expanded its lead to 6-3, Arizona scored single runs in the third and fourth — again making it a one-run game.
The Beavers again answered with a pair of runs, including an RBI double by freshman Gavin Turley. It was the third double to left in as many at-bats for Turley, the top-rated prospect from Arizona in the class of 2022 and the younger brother of former UA first baseman/DH Noah Turley.
Tony Bullard’s opposite-field solo home run in the bottom of the fifth made it 8-6 and set the stage for Romero’s towering blast to right.
Arizona's Kiko Romero lines a single up the middle to give the Wildcats a 13-12 win over Oregon State at the Pac-12 Tournament in Scottsdale (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)
