CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Arizona needed do something different at DH. The Wildcats needed a designated hitter who could, well, hit.
After Noah Turley struggled Saturday night, striking out in all four of his at-bats, Chip Hale and his staff turned to veteran Blake Paugh.
They liked the matchup between the right-handed hitting Paugh and left-handed Canisius starter Chris Pouliot. They also liked Paugh’s professional approach.
“He’s just a veteran. He does everything right,” Hale said. “When he’s not in the lineup, he roots for his teammates. He does whatever he can to help us win a game.
“I wanted his bat in the lineup. We had a good feeling. Toby (DeMello, Arizona’s hitting coach) had a good feeling that he was gonna pop one. And look — he popped two.”
Paugh hit a pair of solo home runs in the Wildcats’ 7-5 victory over the Golden Griffins on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament’s Coral Gables Regional at Alex Rodriguez Park. The first came off Pouliot in the second inning. The second came off right-hander Levi Abbott in the seventh. It cleared the scoreboard in left field and bounded into the track stadium behind it.
Paugh began the season as a starter before suffering an oblique injury that sidelined him for almost two months. The previous season followed a similar pattern because of a back injury.
“Injuries suck,” said Paugh, a fifth-year senior from Scottsdale. “Last year I had to deal with a similar situation — started off good and then got injured.
“The only thing you can be in those times is a good teammate. Just sticking through the rehab process. Then when I got back, I was eager to get back to work. And I was glad to get in there today.”
Paugh returned from the oblique injury on April 18. Sunday marked his 10th appearance since coming back. It was the second two-homer performance of his career.
“You gotta come to the field ready to play, ready for your number to be called, day in and day out,” Paugh said. “So it’s nothing really new. I feel like we have a ton of guys who could be put in the DH spot and do pretty well.”
Dawson next
Hale tabbed right-hander Dawson Netz to start Arizona’s next game late Sunday, regardless of the opponent.
Like Paugh, Netz has endured injury issues this season. He has made only three appearances since April 12 and hasn’t gone longer than 2 2/3 innings in any of them.
But Netz has postseason experience, having made a team-high six appearances in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Also, coming off the injury to his throwing arm, Netz is best served going through a full warmup routine.
“We need to get as many innings out of him as we can,” Hale said.
When they left the ballpark Sunday afternoon, the Wildcats didn’t know whom they were playing or whether they’d be the home or visiting team.
“We have no idea what we’re gonna wear tonight,” Hale said with a smile.
The Wildcats wore navy shirts and gray pants as the designated road team against host Miami, which lost to Ole Miss 2-1 Sunday afternoon.
Inside pitch
Sophomore Chase Davis‘ two-run homer in the first inning vs. Canisius was his 18th of the season, tied for sixth best in UA history.
The Wildcats’ four home runs matched their season high. They also had four homers at Arizona State (April 5) and at New Mexico State (April 26).
After striking out a season-high 20 times vs. Ole Miss on Saturday, Arizona fanned just nine times vs. Canisius. The Wildcats also drew six walks, tripling their total from Saturday.
Should Arizona advance to Monday, the regional championship game would start at 10 a.m. Tucson time. If another game were necessary, it would begin 55 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
