Newfound confidence helps pitcher Juan Aguilera come up big for Arizona Wildcats in elimination game

LUBBOCK, Texas — You never know the identity of a postseason baseball hero before he becomes one.

Junior right-hander Juan Aguilera did not play a major role for the Arizona Wildcats this season. Entering the NCAA Tournament, the transfer from Cochise College had pitched eight times, totaling 11 innings. He did not have a decision.

But when UA coach Jay Johnson ran through his options after a two-hour-plus weather delay at the Lubbock Regional on Saturday, he zeroed in on Aguilera.

It turned out to be a prudent choice.

Aguilera pitched two scoreless innings to earn his first win as a Wildcat as Arizona outlasted Delaware 6-5 in an elimination game at Rip Griffin Park.

Although he brought a 7.36 ERA into Saturday, Aguilera actually had pitched better of late. He didn’t surrender a run in three outings spanning 3º innings in May. The biggest difference?

“Confidence,” said Aguilera, a product of Sierra Vista Buena High School. “Just believing in myself. That was my problem before. I’ve just been working on that since I’ve been here.”

Aguilera also possesses what catcher Cesar Salazar described as a “dirty” slider. Johnson picked Aguilera to start the 11th inning in part because he had an out pitch that would be effective against the Blue Hens’ predominantly right-handed-hitting lineup.

After a rough start to his UA career, Aguilera is performing like the pitcher Johnson believed he could become.

“The confidence allows him to throw his pitches with conviction,” Johnson said. “He probably thought for a little while, ‘Hey, do I belong here?’ He just needed to feel about himself the way we did when we brought him in. It’s been a nice progression.”

Kindall’s secret

Jerry Kindall wants Arizona to win. His blood runs red and blue. He just can’t reveal his true feelings while calling the Wildcats’ regional games for ESPN.

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The Hall of Fame coach — who led Arizona to three College World Series championships — is the analyst for the Lubbock Regional, working alongside Trey Bender. When the Wildcats are his assignment, Kindall makes a conscious effort to remain impartial. It’s not easy.

“I’m trying to be,” Kindall said. “But in my heart, I am a Wildcat. I can put that aside. I’ve done the Pac-12. I think that’s the right thing.”

ESPN officials told Kindall about two months ago to keep this weekend open. He had no idea where he’d be assigned. He hoped it would be Tucson, but Arizona’s résumé did not warrant a hosting bid.

He ended up in Lubbock, and so did the Wildcats. Last year’s national runners-up lost their first game, immediately putting them in elimination mode. Kindall’s teams faced that situation many times. That’s when he traded in his lineup card for a psychiatrist’s notepad.

“When we lost the first game of a double elimination, … I had to calm them down,” Kindall said. “I had to calm myself down.”

Kindall is a big believer in Johnson, who led the Wildcats to the CWS finals in his first season in Tucson. They were the only Pac-12 team to make the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons.

“He’s the man for the job,” Kindall said. “He’s a terrific recruiter and he runs a very well-organized game. He thinks ahead. He has ways to score runs that I never did. I didn’t even think about it. A double squeeze? Come on!”

Arizona pulled off a two-run squeeze during its sweep of Arizona State last month.

Kindall, 82, lives in Tucson but didn’t make it out to Hi Corbett Field very often this season. He has 12 grandchildren, and they keep Kindall and his wife, Diane, pretty busy.

“It’s a wonderful chapter in our life,” he said.

Inside pitch

• After the players were allowed back on the field — but before an official restart time was announced — they bided their time with some non-baseball competitions. UA pitcher Luke Soroko raced Delaware pitcher Scott Zimmer to center field; Soroko won. The two teams also set up a bowling game, with paper cups serving as pins. Neither side was able to knock down any of the cups.
• The rain delay limited right-hander Cody Deason to one inning — but makes him available to pitch Sunday “in some capacity,” Johnson said. Deason emerged as Arizona’s No. 3 starter late in the season.
• JJ Matijevic and Alfonso Rivas have combined for 128 RBIs, the most by a pair of Arizona teammates since 2007, when Bill Rhinehart and C.J. Ziegler totaled 129.
• UA junior outfielder Cal Stevenson has a nine-game hitting streak and a 16-game on-base streak. In those 16 games, he’s batting .411 (23 of 56) with 19 walks, 17 runs and 11 RBIs.
• Senior shortstop Louis Boyd is batting .423 (11 of 26) in his last seven games, including five multi-hit performances.