As Arizona posed for its postgame picture, Wildcats coach Jay Johnson scooped up his nieces, Reagan and Harper, who then joined him for media interviews along the first-base line.
โTheyโre gonna have to move to Arizona,โ Johnson joked, referring to his newfound good-luck charms who were in town from Northern California.
But he knew it wasnโt luck that propelled Arizona to a rare sweep of No. 8 UCLA. It was focus, timely hitting and outstanding pitching.
That formula worked again Saturday as the Wildcats finished off the Bruins by a score of 6-3 in front of 2,358 at Hi Corbett Field. Arizona had only five hits but again took an early lead, responded when pushed and received another stellar outing from its starter โ this time, senior Juan Aguilera.
โWhat a great accomplishment for our team,โ Johnson said. โThe mental maturity that they played with was the best part about it. Staying one pitch at a time. Winning innings. Adding on to leads. Getting zeros after we scored. Just no letup today. What a special performance.โ
After losing five games in a row, the Wildcats (28-17, 10-11 Pac-12) have won five straight. They swept the Bruins (30-13, 14-7) for the first time since 2005 and for the first time in Tucson since 1991.
UCLA had lost three games in the entire month of April. The Bruins were averaging 7.5 runs per game entering the series; they managed just four in three games at Hi Corbett.
Arizona began the week at No. 60 in RPI. The Wildcats were 37th as of Saturday evening.
โWe know what we have to do keep on going,โ Aguilera said, alluding to the postseason. โThis is a great start. Hopefully we can keep going like this.โ
Taking the baton from fellow right-handers Cody Deason and Michael Flynn, Aguilera limited UCLA to two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He didnโt strike out nearly as many batters โ five compared to Deasonโs 11 and Flynnโs 12 โ but Aguilera was just as effective.
The Sierra Vista Buena product, who began the season as a long reliever, improved to 6-0. His ERA is 2.01.
โThereโs a lot of good stories on this team right now. I donโt know if thereโs a better one than him,โ Johnson said. โThatโs a Hall of Fame effort, and weโre going to need more.โ
Johnson informed Aguilera that he would be starting via a text at 12:35 a.m., a little over two hours after the conclusion of Friday nightโs game.
โSounds good, Coach!โ Aguilera responded.
Johnson then urged Aguilera to go to bed. Youโd think that would be difficult given the news Johnson had just relayed. But after taking a deep breath and visualizing how Saturday might go, Aguilera dozed off.
โI try not to worry about the stakes,โ he said. โI try to make sure every gameโs the same for me. Iโm going to go out and give it all I have every time.โ
Aguilera exited with one out in the top of the seventh after walking RJ Teijeiro and throwing a first-pitch ball to Jeremy Ydens. Arizona had a 6-2 lead at that point.
Redshirt freshman Zach Sherman then struck out Edens and Kevin Kendall, leaving slugger Chase Strumpf in the on-deck circle.
Sherman allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings, striking out five โ including Ydens to end the game. Like Aguilera, Sherman wasnโt projected to have a starring role entering the season. Now heโs a critical cog in Arizonaโs bullpen.
โBaseballโs a funny game,โ senior center fielder Cal Stevenson said. โYou never know who itโs gonna be.โ
Stevenson, back in the lineup for the UCLA series after missing seven of the previous eight games because of a hand injury, jump-started the offense with a leadoff double. For the second day in a row, Arizona led 2-0 at the end of the first inning.
After Strumpfโs two-run homer tied it in the top of the third, Alfonso Rivas III hit the first pitch in the bottom half over the wall in right to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead.
Arizona added two more runs in the fourth. Freshman Donta Williamsโ RBI triple to right-center was the key blow.
Arizona is the only Pac-12 team to have made the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons. It took a 16-14 league record to get there. After sweeping the Bruins, the Wildcats again have a shot.
โWe put ourselves in this situation,โ Aguilera said. โWeโre gonna try to make sure that we get to where we want to be.
โWe know what we have to do. I think weโre going to be playing our best baseball toward the end of the season.โ
Last link to Lopez
When former UA coach Andy Lopez threw out the first pitch before Saturdayโs game, the recipient was senior reliever Robby Medel.
That did not happen by chance. Medel is the last remaining Wildcat to play for Lopez. Medel started the second game of the 2015 season, Lopezโs last as UA coach. Every other senior on the roster transferred to Arizona after Lopez retired in late May of โ15.
Johnson also has a connection to Lopez, in a manner of speaking.
โThe first coaching book I ever bought was โCoaching Baseball Successfullyโ by Andy Lopez,โ Johnson said. โHeโs been a great supporter from the time that I got here. He was one of those coaches, when I was a young coach, that you looked to that did a lot of things right.
โWeโre probably different in some regards. But thereโs a lot of what I know he demanded out of his teams that I have blended into my coaching style, long before I got here. Itโs an honor to coach at a place that he coached.โ
Inside pitch
- Arizona swept the series despite hitting .235 as a team. The Wildcats never trailed.
- UA pitchers combined to allow four runs and 19 hits in 27 innings. They struck out 35 batters and walked seven.
- Arizona is off until Tuesday, when it plays its final midweek home game against Grand Canyon. After that, the Wildcats have just three more games at Hi Corbett Field in 2018 โ against rival Arizona State from May 17-19.
