SCOTTSDALE — Arizona accomplished all of its objectives Wednesday night at the Pac-12 Tournament.
The top-seeded Wildcats took care of business against ninth-seeded Washington, defeating the Huskies 6-5 at Scottsdale Stadium. The win assured that Arizona will advance to Friday’s semifinals.
The Wildcats utilized five pitchers — and none of them were weekend starters Jackson Kent, Clark Candiotti or Cam Walty.
They also got freshman Easton Breyfogle, one of three injured outfielders, back into the lineup. Breyfogle wasn’t 100%, but he made it through the game without reinjuring his hamstring.
Three of the first five games in the tournament were upsets, and that weighed on Chip Hale’s mind.
“It was impactful on me,” Hale said. “We didn't really talk about it. We just talked about why we came here. We want to win the last Pac-12 Tournament, whatever way we have to do it.”
Wednesday’s result renders Thursday’s game against Cal meaningless for Arizona (34-20). But it’s incredibly important for the sixth-seeded Golden Bears (35-18), who would win Pool A with a victory. They would be eliminated with a loss, which also would be a blow to their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Arizona's Mason White makes a play at shortstop during the top-seeded Wildcats' Pac-12 Tournament opener against ninth-seeded Washington Wednesday at Scottsdale Stadium. White hit a three-run home run in the top of the third to give the Wildcats a 4-2 lead at that point.
Arizona had intended to pitch Kent on Thursday, but that plan could change.
“We’re going to talk as a staff and see what we’re going to do,” Hale said, adding that Kent was in line to start “as of right now.”
Arizona is tracking toward a semifinal rematch against Stanford, but with the roles reversed. Last year, the eighth-seeded Wildcats knocked out the top-seeded Cardinal. Stanford is the 8-seed this year and, like Arizona a year ago, swept its pool-play games, including a 2-1 nail-biter against No. 2 seed Oregon State earlier Wednesday.
As Hale somewhat expected after Saturday’s walk-off win over OSU to clinch the Pac-12 regular-season title, the Wildcats started poorly against the Huskies, falling behind 2-0 through one inning.
Garen Caulfield got one run back with an opposite-field solo homer in the top of the second. It was Caulfield’s 13th career home run — and his third in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Mason White gave Arizona a 4-2 lead with a three-run moonshot to right in the third. It was White’s team-leading 18th homer of the season.
Arizona's Braden Zastrow got the start on the mound Wednesday in the top-seeded Wildcats' Pac-12 Tournament opener against ninth-seeded Washington at Scottsdale Stadium.
“Sometimes it takes a little slap, a little punch, to get you going,” Hale said.
The Wildcats expanded the lead to 6-2 in the sixth via RBI singles by Brendan Summerhill and White.
They needed all of them as Washington (19-31-1) scored one run in the bottom of the sixth and two in the bottom of the ninth. The Huskies had the tying run on base against UA closer Anthony “Tonko” Susac, who induced a groundout to end the game.
“We had a hard time with Washington up in Seattle,” Hale said of the late-April series, which the Huskies rallied to win. “They just kept coming at us. It was the one team that got to our bullpen a little bit, and they got to us tonight.”
Four pitchers threw two innings apiece before Susac pitched the ninth. They combined for one walk and 12 strikeouts.
Inside pitch
• Five Wildcats had two hits apiece: Summerhill, White, Blake McDonald, Tommy Splaine and Breyfogle.
• Breyfogle, who started in right field, subbed out in the bottom of the ninth. Two-way player Casey Hintz, who had warmed up in the bullpen in the eighth inning, entered in center field. Summerhill moved from center to right.
• Senior Emilio Corona, who’d been out since getting hit in the hand last Thursday, pinch-ran for Andrew Cain in the ninth inning.
• Stanford coach David Esquer spent time in the Pac-12 Networks TV booth. His son, Xavier Esquer, is a reserve infielder for the Arizona.
