LUBBOCK, Texas — It wouldn’t be Arizona Wildcats postseason baseball without a delay of some sort.
Several of Arizona’s NCAA Tournament games last year were delayed, including the opener against Sam Houston State.
That delay in Lafayette, Louisiana, lasted five hours. The Wildcats-Bearkats game here Friday began three hours later than it was supposed to because of lightning in the area. The game wouldn’t have started on time regardless because the previous game between host Texas Tech and Delaware was delayed by 1 hour 40 minutes in the second inning.
The between-games delay Friday created a familiar scene: UA fans and family members of the team huddled under the stands at Rip Griffin Park, awaiting word on when the game would start.
Arizona’s coaches milled about the first-base dugout.
“Big surprise, huh?” UA coach Jay Johnson said to a passerby.
The initial rain delay a year ago proved to be an omen. Arizona’s game the next day against Louisiana Lafayette was postponed.
The Wildcats ended up playing in four games over the next two days, and won three to advance to Super Regionals.
Because the Lafayette Regional lasted until late Monday — and Arizona was scheduled to play Mississippi State four days later — the Wildcats ended up staying in the Deep South and busing to Starkville. Naturally, the first game between the UA and MSU was delayed 37 minutes because of a power outage.
The Wildcats swept the favored Bulldogs to advance to the College World Series. Arizona’s second game in Omaha, against Oklahoma State, was delayed nearly 2½ hours because of inclement weather.
The Wildcats then became part of history.
The third and deciding game of the CWS finals between Arizona and Coastal Carolina was postponed. They became the first finalists to decide the championship on a Thursday. The Chanticleers won 4-3.
Weather delays in Texas are nothing new for the Wildcats. Arizona’s regional championship game against Texas A&M in College Station in 2011 was postponed and played on a Tuesday. Texas A&M won.
The Wildcats’ 2010 regional in Fort Worth was hot and sticky, and other games were delayed by lightning.
Two Wildcats pitchers, Bryce Bandilla and Nick Cunningham, were hospitalized because of dehydration. Cunningham never entered the game; he overheated simply by sitting in the bullpen.
Both games in this year’s Fort Worth Regional were postponed Friday, pushing the schedule there back a full day.
On-time delivery
At least Arizona’s bats arrived on time.
A handful of the Wildcats’ bats were damaged Thursday, when the car in which equipment manager Zach Cook was riding got rear-ended.
The replacement bats arrived at 9:30 a.m. thanks to assistant director of event operations Chris Valenzuela, who gathered and shipped the gear from Tucson.
In Tallahassee …
The Lubbock Regional is paired with the Tallahassee Regional. The latter started promisingly for UA fans hoping the Wildcats will play one more series at Hi Corbett Field.
The top two seeds in Tallahassee — Florida State and Central Florida — lost their openers. That means one of the two will be eliminated Saturday. If No. 2 seed Arizona were to win in Lubbock — and No. 3 Auburn or No. 4 Tennessee Tech were to win in Tallahassee — Tucson would become a Super Regional site next weekend.
Inside pitch
- The weather was a good news/bad news deal for athletic director Dave Heeke. His plane sat on the tarmac in Dallas for two hours, and he didn’t arrive in Lubbock until 6 p.m. local time. But because of the delayed start, however, the first-year AD didn’t miss a pitch.
- Arizona has the most top-level MLB draft prospects in Lubbock, according to Baseball America. BA ranks two Wildcats in its top 200: first baseman JJ Matijevic (No. 64) and center fielder Jared Oliva (138). Only one other player in the regional made the list: Sam Houston State center fielder Bryce Johnson (190).
