Vet Cam Walty gets nod for UA in NCAA opener; ‘he’s probably the reason we’re here’

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The pitching matchup in Arizona’s NCAA Tournament opener against TCU on Friday pits a veteran against a freshman.

The veteran, Cam Walty, missed the start of the season because of injury. Now he’s the Wildcats’ No. 1 starter.

The freshman, Kole Klecker, made his college debut out of the bullpen against regional host Arkansas, the No. 3 national seed. He ended up starting more games (13) and notching more wins (nine) than any other Horned Frog.

Walty’s overall numbers, including a 5.33 ERA, bely his impact.

“He’s probably the reason we’re here, to be honest,” UA coach Chip Hale said during a pre-regional news conference at Baum-Walker Stadium on Thursday. “When he got healthy, 100%, we put him in that Friday-night spot. It solidified some things for us, gave us innings, so the bullpen wasn’t so taxed. He knows how to pitch.”

Walty, a transfer from Nevada, made his season debut March 7. A little over a month later, he strung together four consecutive scoreless appearances, including a pair of seven-inning, five-hit gems against Arizona State and Oregon State. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 48-8 is by far the best on the team.

Walty struggled a bit in two of his past three outings, against Stanford and OSU. In both instances, he had one rough inning, allowing several hits in a row after two outs had been recorded. He cited two problem areas: missing spots and being too predictable.

“If we were throwing back-to-back pitches, we just weren’t being smart with how we were throwing them,” Walty said. “So I was either hanging them or I was getting them too much over the plate (in) a count where we didn’t need to do that — we could go a little more off the plate and get a swing, or we could raise an eyesight to set up another pitch.”

Although the competition is tougher, the stakes are raised, and the fences are closer — 320 feet down the lines; 400 to straightaway center — Walty said he’s approaching Friday’s game the same as any other: “Attack, get people out and win.”

Klecker got thrown into the deep end in his debut, entering in the second inning of a 4-4 game against a ranked Arkansas team at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He befuddled the Razorbacks for 4 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits and one run with no walks and six strikeouts.

“That’s kind of a tough thing to do,” said Klecker, who’s 9-4 with a 4.04 ERA. “I think it really prepared me for later on ... just with some struggles I had and how college baseball runs.”

Klecker prepped at Chandler Hamilton High School. He originally committed to Grand Canyon before switching from GCU to TCU.

Growing up in Arizona, Klecker is familiar with some of the players he’ll face Friday.

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“I know some people on the team,” he said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it changes how I prepare. It’s more of ... a little fun opportunity to play against some guys that I’ve played against before. And then obviously playing against the home team, local team, that’s always a little more fun. So I’m excited.”

Nothing to prove

Arizona was one of the last four teams to make the tournament. The Wildcats’ inclusion has been dubbed a surprise by several college baseball analysts.

Does that mean the UA has something extra to prove?

“I don’t think so,” Hale said. “What we talked about the last month of the season (was), it doesn’t matter what the score is — up, down, even — we’re going to play the same way. We’re gonna play confident; we’re gonna play hard. When you start trying to prove you need to be in there, it just makes these guys too tight.”

Shortstop Nik McClaughry has used the term “playing with house money” to describe Arizona’s mentality this week. The Wildcats saw first-hand what a “last four in” team can do a year ago: Ole Miss was the last at-large to make it, eliminated Arizona in the Coral Gables Regional and went on to win the College World Series.

“Ole Miss was hot, they got it going and took it all the way,” Hale said. “They (the Wildcats) got to see that. It’s an older group who’s been through this. So hopefully they’ll use that experience to their benefit.”

Inside pitch

UA first baseman Kiko Romero has been named a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Romero (Canyon del Oro HS) has 19 home runs and 86 RBIs, the latter tying the UA single-season record.

UA outfielder Chase Davis is ranked 39th in MLB.com’s Top 200 for the 2023 draft. Davis has 21 home runs and a .369/.496/.757 slash line. Right-handed pitcher Blake Wolters, a UA signee, is ranked 35th.

Six players who are or were on Arizona’s roster at some point are in the transfer portal, according to D1Baseball.com’s database: IF Tyler Lejeune, LHP Reed Schaefer, RHP Hayden Lewis, 1B/OF Trevor Schmidt, RHP/C Luke Moeller and RHP/OF Mason Kelley.