LAFAYETTE, La. — Before Arizona’s first postseason game since 2012, Wildcats coach Jay Johnson asked starting pitcher Nathan Bannister if he felt nervous.
Nope.
“I waited four years for this,” Bannister told Johnson. “Let’s go have fun and play the game.”
That’s the way the rain-delayed opener of the NCAA’s Lafayette Regional unfolded for Arizona on Friday: The Wildcats played the way they had all season — with one notable exception.
That came in the form of power. Three UA players hit home runs to support Bannister as No. 2 seed Arizona defeated No. 3 seed Sam Houston State 7-3 in front of an announced crowd of 3,445 at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.
Arizona will play host and top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette at 5 p.m. Saturday, weather permitting. The Ragin' Cajuns beat Princeton 5-3 in Friday's second game.
On his way out of the postgame interview room, Sam Houston State coach Matt Deggs congratulated Johnson for a job well done. Deggs was impressed with what he saw Friday.
“I thought Arizona played extremely well,” Deggs said. “They’re a really good ball club. Very complete. Very fundamentally sound.
“They remind me a lot of us, except a little older. They’re super well-coached. They beat us at our own game tonight.”
Deggs was referring to pitching, defense and small-ball offense; Arizona (39-20) executed all of the above, per usual. But the Wildcats’ three home runs, including back-to-back shots in the bottom of the fourth inning, weren’t what anyone was expecting.
Arizona ranked ninth in the Pac-12 with 19 home runs during the regular season. The Wildcats hadn’t hit more than two in a game before Friday.
The back-to-back homers, by Ryan Aguilar and JJ Matijevic, accounted for four runs and sent a jolt of energy through the Arizona dugout after a long day of sitting and waiting out the inclement weather in the Lafayette area.
“I just feel like the confidence really rises,” said Aguilar, whose three-run homer to right-center gave him a team-leading seven for the season. “I just feel like nothing’s going to beat us.”
Third baseman Bobby Dalbec hit the other home run, a solo shot that ignited a three-run, two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth. The seven runs proved more than enough for Bannister, who improved to 10-2 and continued to provide the Wildcats with quality innings.
Bannister did not allow a run in seven frames Friday, the sixth time he has pitched six or more scoreless innings this season. The senior has pitched at least seven innings in eight of his past nine starts.
“Nathan was Nathan,” said Johnson, who described Bannister as “the most valuable pitcher for any team in the country.”
One key to Bannister’s performance against Sam Houston State: He didn’t warm up before the originally scheduled start time of 11 a.m., Tucson time. Johnson credited the NCAA for keeping the Wildcats informed about the weather. The game started five hours later than planned. Bannister was able to engage in his normal pregame routine.
“We did not want to get into a situation where we had to start him and stop him,” Johnson said. “We’re paying close attention to all those details.”
Johnson and his staff knew that Bannister’s counterpart, right-hander Heath Donica, had a heavy workload last week and hoped the Wildcats could get to him the second time through the lineup – which is exactly what happened. Donica started twice during the Southland Conference Tournament, throwing 186 pitches in a four-day span.
Donica limited Arizona to two hits and three baserunners through three innings. The Wildcats then strung together five consecutive hits, including Aguilar and Matijevic’s home runs, in the fourth.
“I felt fine,” Donica said. “I just didn’t make pitches when I needed to make pitches. A good team like Arizona is going to punish those mistakes.”
Arizona’s three-run sixth — which also featured an RBI triple by Jared Oliva and a RBI bunt single by Louis Boyd — came against reliever Hayden Nixon. Sam Houston State’s runs came against reliever Rio Gomez.
Dalbec, whose errant throw from third base started the Bearkats’ two-run rally in the ninth, shifted to the pitcher’s mound to get the last three outs. He stranded one runner.
“It was a good effort by our guys,” Johnson said. “As we prepared for them, we saw a lot of qualities that we want to have in our team. They made it tough until the 27th out.”
