Arizona’s starting nine at New Mexico State on Wednesday featured four sophomores and one freshman. That’s been a common occurrence for the streaking, 16th-ranked Wildcats.
But UA coach Chip Hale credited veteran leadership for helping the Cats overcome a shaky start and get to where they are now.
Hale specifically cited Arizona’s team captains: second baseman Garen Caulfield, right fielder Emilio Corona and reliever Dawson Netz. All three upperclassmen are fourth- or fifth-year players.
When the Wildcats were ending up on the wrong side of one-run outcomes and sitting at 10-13, the veterans didn’t sugarcoat the situation.
“Garen, Emilio and Dawson as the captains did an unbelievable job of just keeping everybody as positive as we could — and being honest,” said Hale, whose team visits Washington for a three-game series Friday-Sunday. “There was a lot of honesty that was shared; especially Garen did a good job of that, just sort of setting guys straight. We want to be positive, but honesty is important too.”
Arizona second baseman Garen Caulfield, shown making a throw vs. ASU on March 16, has been one of the leaders who helped the No. 16 Wildcats navigate through a rough patch earlier this season.
Hale himself delivered that message during a weather delay the last time Arizona faced NMSU, on March 26. The Wildcats trailed the Aggies 9-1 in the fifth inning. The outlook for the season looked bleak. But, guided by their experienced leaders, the players continued to believe in themselves.
“We’re never out of the fight,” Caulfield said. “That game, as bad as it was for us and the university, I feel like that really has defined our culture so far. I like to think of it as adversity is your advantage.
“We were down … and Chip was getting on us in the clubhouse. But looking back at it, it’s really something that has helped us.
“Chip had a good message for us, and it kind of turned things around. He said just turn the scoreboard off and let’s fight to the end. If we lose by nine, then we lose by nine. And if we come back and win, we come back and win.
Arizona right fielder Emilio Corona, shown vs. ASU on March 16, is one of three team captains who’ve played key leadership roles for the 16th-ranked Wildcats this season.
“He refocused us, and we put together some really good at-bats to end that game. And then it turned into, I don’t even know how many wins we’ve had in a row.”
Arizona lost that night 12-9. Since then, they’ve won 15 of 16 games to improve to 25-14 overall, 13-5 in the Pac-12.
Several of those victories required comebacks, and six featured walk-off endings. Hale said Netz and others helped make that happen by “keeping the guys going.”
“That was not a real good thing my first two years,” Hale said. “We had a hard time keeping the bench going. If you listen to our bench this year, they’re always into it. They have little deals they do, and Dawson’s a big part of that.”
Netz and fellow reliever Trevor Long are the only players remaining from the 2021 team that advanced to the College World Series. They’ve played for two head coaches and three pitching coaches. They bring a perspective that most of the underclassmen lack because those players simply haven’t had the same experiences.
“Just helping a lot of the younger guys understand that it’s a privilege to play here, especially for a coach like Chip,” Netz said. “(He’s) very laid-back. Kind of lets us run the team and what he wants a culture to look like, which is awesome. But just allowing guys to realize that … this is something that we should not take for granted.”
Bullpen bounce-back
In the last two walk-offs, on April 19 and 21 vs. Washington State, Arizona’s bullpen couldn’t hold late leads. That group has been a bit leaky of late.
But Netz isn’t overly concerned.
“Some people from the outside see it as a negative thing, like we can’t finish games,” Netz said. “But when you realize that different teams play in different ways … like Washington State was a team that was going to sell out just to put the ball in play. So it’s going to be harder to strike more hitters out that way.”
Fifth-year UA senior Dawson Netz said his message to teammates includes ‘just helping a lot of the younger guys understand that it’s a privilege to play here, especially for a coach like Chip (Hale).’
The Cougars scored seven runs from the seventh inning on in those two games. They had seven hits — six singles and one double. Those rallies also featured four hit batsmen and two walks.
The home run that Jaeden Swanberg surrendered Wednesday was just the sixth off a UA reliever this season. It accounted for the only two runs allowed by Arizona pitchers in a 12-2, seven-inning “bullpen game.”
Raul Garayzar, Bryce McKnight and Matthew Martinez combined to shut out the Aggies through four innings. Those were especially important outings for Garayzar and Martinez, who began the season as key members of the bullpen before struggling and falling out of favor. Neither had pitched since March.
Before the team departed for Las Cruces on Wednesday morning, Hale said the following about Garayzar (Rio Rico HS):
“He’s been working super hard on his stuff. He’s a guy in the fall that was an impact guy for us, and we haven’t had a chance to get him in there enough. So hopefully tomorrow we’ll see what we saw in the fall … and we can get him in the 27-man roster (for Pac-12 games). But this is a hard roster to crack if you’re a pitcher.”
UA sophomore Maddox Mihalakis, left, has batted .444 (8 for 18) during a four-game hitting streak since taking over at third base for the injured Richie Morales.
Morales out, Mihalakis in
Injured third baseman Richie Morales did not travel with the team. Morales was struck in the face by a bad-hop grounder during warmups before the Grand Canyon game on April 16.
Morales’ absence has created an opportunity at third for sophomore Maddox Mihalakis, who’d been serving as Arizona’s primary DH.
Mihalakis has a four-game hitting streak during which he has batted .444 (8 for 18) with eight RBIs, raising his season average from .235 to .272. Mihalakis hit his second career home run vs. NMSU and had a career-best four RBIs. He had three doubles and three RBIs vs. WSU on Saturday.
Mihalakis also has had seven chances without an error over those four games and initiated a 5-4-3 double play Wednesday.
Inside pitch
Could Arizona host an NCAA regional? D1Baseball.com thinks it’s possible. The outlet has the Wildcats as the No. 16 national seed in its latest field-of-64 projection, with the UA hosting UC Irvine, San Diego and GCU. Baseball America has Arizona as a 2-seed in the Terre Haute Regional hosted by No. 13 national seed Indiana State.
BA released its Top 400 for the 2024 MLB Draft this week. Players listed with UA ties include Friday-night starter Jackson Kent (No. 181) and class of ‘24 pitchers Mason Russell (No. 146; Queen Creek Casteel) and Smith Bailey (No. 280; Peoria Mountain Ridge).
UA sophomore shortstop Mason White (Salpointe Catholic) hit his team-leading 14th home run of the season Wednesday. The three-run shot gave White 52 RBIs, vaulting him to the top of the leaderboard in the Pac-12.
Washington (14-19-1, 6-12) ranks last in the league in multiple offensive categories, including batting average (.242), on-base percentage (.321) and slugging percentage (.368).
