The Arizona baseball team, which opens NCAA Tournament play against Grand Canyon on Friday night at Hi Corbett Field, has won eight games via walk-off this season. Here’s a look at each one:
March 28: Arizona 5, UCLA 3 (10)
Preamble: The Wildcats trailed 3-0 through four and 3-2 through seven. Garen Caulfield homered to conclude a nine-pitch at-bat and tie the score in the eighth.
Winning play: With two outs in the bottom of the 10th and a runner on first (Richie Morales, leadoff single), sophomore outfielder Brendan Summerhill hit a two-run homer to right off right-hander Owen Egan.
March 29: UA 3, UCLA 2
Preamble: The Bruins appeared to have spoiled Clark Candiotti’s complete game by scratching across runs in the eighth (unearned) and ninth innings to tie the score at 2-2. But the Wildcats still had the last at-bat.
Winning play: With one out and the bases loaded via two walks and an error, senior outfielder Emilio Corona hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Summerhill, who had led off the inning with a base on balls.
Brendan Summerhill skips to the plate after socking the winning home run in the 10th inning against UCLA on March 28 at Hi Corbett Field.
March 30: UA 10, UCLA 9 (12)
Preamble: The Wildcats didn’t seem like they’d need a walk-off with an 8-2 lead through six. But the Bruins scored five runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
Winning play: After UCLA took a 9-8 lead in the top of the 12th, sophomore shortstop Mason White hit a two-run homer to right off RHP Rashad Ruff to give the Wildcats a third straight walk-off win against the Bruins.
April 13: UA 6, Louisiana Tech 5
Preamble: Arizona played one of its worst games of the year (season-high five errors) and trailed 5-0 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, including insurance runs in the eighth and ninth.
Winning play: After White doubled to left-center to tie the score — the play was changed from a conventional double to a ground-rule double, sending Maddox Mihalakis back to third base after he appeared to have scored the winning run — Caulfield singled to left to end it. The last two runs came with two outs, and the last four came against Bulldogs closer Ethan Bates, who leads the nation with 17 saves.
Arizona's Mason White points to the dugout after singling in the 11th inning to give the Wildcats a 7-6 victory over Washington State on April 21.
April 19: UA 8, Washington State 7
Preamble: Similar to the UCLA series finale, Arizona squandered a sizable late lead — 5-2 entering the eighth. The Cougars scored one run in the eighth and four in the ninth to take a 7-5 advantage into the bottom half.
Winning play: With two outs and runners on first and second, Mihalakis finished an eight-pitch at-bat with a single to left to score Easton Breyfogle, who had reached base via a two-out walk. Earlier, Corona had driven in the tying run with a two-out single, scoring White.
April 21: UA 7, WSU 6 (11)
Preamble: Bullpen struggles again resulted in a blown lead, this time a 6-3 advantage entering the seventh. The Cougars scored two runs in that inning and one in the ninth. Neither team scored in the 10th.
Winning play: Two hit-by-pitches sandwiching a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk loaded the bases for White with one out in the bottom of the 11th. The sophomore grounded a single up the middle to score Tommy Splaine and give Arizona its fourth straight series sweep.
Arizona’s Blake McDonald (2) and Clark Candiotti (44) celebrate the Wildcats' 4-3 walk-off over Oregon State with teammate Brendan Summerhill (4). The May 18 victory at Hi Corbett Field clinched the Pac-12 regular season championship for the Wildcats.
May 18: UA 4, Oregon State 3
Preamble: Needing to sweep the Wildcats to win the Pac-12 regular-season title, the Beavers won the first two games of the series by a combined score of 25-3. They took a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth on Jabin Trosky’s single down the first base line against closer Anthony “Tonko” Susac.
Arizona’s Garen Caulfield (1) goes for the flying chest-bump as the Wildcats celebrate their 4-3, come-from-behind, walk-off win over Oregon State for the Pac-12 regular-season championship on May 18 at Hi Corbett Field.
Winning play: Splaine got hit by a pitch and Mihalakis walked to put runners on first and second with one out for Summerhill, who drilled a double to right-center to score both and give Arizona the final regular-season championship in conference history.
May 25: UA 4, USC 3
Preamble: After falling behind 3-0 and getting no-hit for six innings in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game in Scottsdale, Arizona scored one run in the seventh and two in the eighth to tie the score.
Arizona’s Tommy Splaine is soaked after getting a water cooler dumped on him during his postgame TV interview following the Wildcats’ walk-off win over USC to win the 2024 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament Championship Saturday night in Scottsdale.
Winning play: With runners on first and second and one out, Splaine lined a single to left to score pinch runner Corona, who just beat the tag at the plate. The Wildcats took the final Pac-12 postseason crown by the same score, in the same inning, with the same tandem of pitchers (Cam Walty, Susac) and in the same uniform combination they wore in winning the regular-season title a week earlier.
The Star's Justin Spears and Michael Lev look back on Arizona baseball's run to the Pac-12 championship, and look ahead to the Tucson Regional this weekend at Hi Corbett Field. How does the UA stack up with GCU, Dallas Baptist and West Virginia? Plus, looking back on the life and legacy of Bill Walton, who died earlier this week at 71 years old, and exchanging funny stories about Mr. Conference of Champions.
