Matt Fraizer described his 2018 season as a “roller coaster.”
“Kind of up and down,” the Arizona Wildcats sophomore right fielder said Wednesday. “Good weekend, bad weekend.”
The truth is, Fraizer has pieced together more good weekends than bad, especially lately. He got hits in all four of Arizona’s games against Utah and Utah Valley this past weekend, including the biggest one of his UA career.
With Arizona trailing 5-4 in the eighth inning against Utah Valley on Monday night, Fraizer smoked a three-run homer to right field. It was the first home run of Fraizer’s career, and it proved to be the decisive blow in UA’s comeback from a 5-0 deficit.
“For him to come through with that swing at that time was big,” said UA coach Jay Johnson, whose team hosts No. 8 UCLA in a three-game series starting Thursday. “I see more of that coming. He’s helped us win, and I still think the best is yet to come with him.”
A star at Clovis North High School in Fresno, California, Fraizer was a pillar of Arizona’s 2016 recruiting class. But unlike classmates Nick Quintana and Cameron Cannon, Fraizer didn’t play a significant role last season.
Fraizer started only four times and hit .220 in 41 at-bats. The departure of center fielder Jared Oliva opened a spot in right for Fraizer, a tall (6-3), athletic left-handed batter whose father, Terance, played four seasons in the minor leagues.
The first three weekends were not great ones for Fraizer. He started the season 3 for 27 with no extra-base hits.
Johnson sat Fraizer for the March 3 game against Illinois after he had gone 0 for 6 the previous day. He pinch-hit against the Fighting Illini and struck out, dropping his average to .111.
Since then, Fraizer has batted .319 with eight doubles, one triple, one homer and 17 RBIs in 116 at-bats.
The constant during that roller-coaster ride: Johnson’s words of encouragement.
“He’s always been in my ear,” Fraizer said. “ ‘Stay with it. You’re a good player.’ He stuck with me the whole year. He easily could have sat me or got negative. But he was always positive.
“It means a lot. … He’s a great coach. He’s coached a lot of good players. When he believes in you, it gives you that confidence. ‘I do belong here. I do belong in this lineup.’ ”
Fraizer had a career-high four hits Sunday at Utah as Arizona won 18-12 to end a five-game losing streak. He was 1 for 3 with a walk when he came to the plate in the eighth against Utah Valley.
The Wildcats had runners on second and third with no outs. Fraizer was facing left-hander Marco Briones. The Wolverines met at the mound before the at-bat, giving Johnson time to talk to Fraizer and Fraizer time to formulate a game plan.
Johnson kept it simple: “Just be ready to go. Be ready to hit a mistake.”
Fraizer’s goal was to drive in the tying run in with a groundball up the middle or a sacrifice fly. He also remembered something Johnson always said: “The first pitch you can do it with, get it done.”
Fraizer cracked the first pitch he saw from Briones over the wall in right. Arizona hung on for a 7-6 victory to salvage a split on the Utah trip.
“It was awesome,” Fraizer said. “Everyone was ecstatic.
“We didn’t do what we wanted (on the trip), but it’s always good to get two at the back end.”
Injury update
Arizona finished the Utah Valley game with a defensive alignment Johnson never could have imagined using.
Cesar Salazar, the Wildcats’ starting catcher, was at third base. Cannon, their regular second baseman, was at shortstop. And Quintana, their third baseman, was at second.
Injuries forced Johnson to get creative. They have hit the Cats harder this year than in his first two seasons combined.
Already without center fielder Cal Stevenson (hand), Arizona lost shortstop Jacob Blas (knee) and utility infielder Seve Romo (hamstring) during the game. All three are day-to-day, Johnson said. Additionally, Ryan Haug (back) was pressed into duty at catcher after missing the previous three games.
“It was just one of those ‘adapt, improvise and overcome’ type deals,” Johnson said. “To our credit, we just kind of pieced it together and moved some guys around. It was a great win for our team.”
Johnson never talks about injuries or uses them as an excuse. He subscribes to the “next man up” credo usually associated with football.
But Arizona has lost three players to season-ending injuries: pitcher Randy Labaut (leg), shortstop Travis Moniot (back) and catcher/DH Michael Benson (concussion). Stevenson has missed seven of the past eight games after getting hit on the right hand with a pitch against USC on April 15.
Johnson said he’s “hoping for the best” regarding Stevenson’s availability vs. UCLA. The senior, who’s hitting .328, held a bat during a pitch-tracking session before practice Wednesday.
Inside pitch
- Junior right-handers Cody Deason (4-4, 2.70 ERA) and Michael Flynn (5-3, 4.29) will open the UCLA series for Arizona (25-17, 7-11 Pac-12). Saturday’s starter is TBA. The Bruins will start righties Jake Bird (5-2, 1.83), Zach Pettway (7-1, 2.96) and Ryan Garcia (5-0, 1.77).
- UCLA (30-10, 14-4) has won eight in a row, outscoring its opponents 87-22 over that span. The Bruins are 11-3 on the road. They were 21st in RPI through Tuesday.
- UCLA is the most well-rounded team in the Pac-12, ranking second in the league in batting average (.296), ERA (2.71) and fielding percentage (.978). No other school ranks in the top three in all three categories.
- UA junior first baseman Alfonso Rivas III has hit safely in 18 of his past 20 games, including 11 multihit performances. Rivas is 4 for 8 in his past two games with two home runs, a triple, four runs and six RBIs.
