The deficit has been erased.
The disappointing start has been forgotten.
Arizona completed a three-game sweep of San Diego on Sunday, defeating the Toreros 12-6 at Hi Corbett Field. The Wildcats went 4-0 on their first homestand of the season — reversing the result of their opening weekend in Arlington, Texas, where they went 0-3.
“Arlington didn't go how we wanted it to,” said senior second baseman Garen Caulfield, who went 3 for 5 with three RBIs Sunday. “But I think we can take a lot of what we learned from there and use it, make adversity our advantage, learn from our mistakes and what we were doing wrong. It was nice to get home and put it on them this weekend.”
Additional tests are looming: After a Wednesday game at Rice, Arizona faces three ranked SEC teams in a tournament in Houston — including No. 1 Texas A&M and No. 4 Tennessee.
Asked if his team is better prepared for that gauntlet than the opening weekend, UA coach Chip Hale said: “We’ll find out. Ask me next Sunday. We’re starting to get into a little bit of a groove. But it’s going to be really good baseball.”
Arizona’s Mathis Meurant smacks a three-run homer in the second inning of the Wildcats’ sweep-clinching, 12-6 victory over San Diego on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona earned a preseason No. 21 ranking from D1Baseball thanks mainly to its veteran lineup. Newcomers provided the early spark Sunday before the veterans put the game away.
Transfer Mathis Meurant capped a breakout weekend with the biggest blast of the afternoon — a three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning that gave the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.
It was the second homer in as many days for Meurant, who’s from Vaires-sur-Marne, France, and spent the past two years at Cochise College. Meurant went 5 for 8 vs. USD with seven runs scored and five RBIs. The junior is making it hard for Hale to take him out of the lineup.
“I knew this was coming,” Caulfield said. “As soon as he got healthy” — Meurant missed time in the offseason because of a hip injury — “we saw it right away. He's really good with the bat. He's got such a simple approach up there, and it doesn't seem like much could go wrong for him. We're super happy he's contributing. He's been a great addition.”
After Arizona squandered that 4-0 lead, Meurant was involved in creating the go-ahead run. Following Tommy Splaine’s leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh inning, Meurant put down a bunt. The Toreros tried to get Splaine at third, but he beat the throw. Splaine then scored on a double-play groundout.
Arizona pitcher Smith Bailey throws in the outfield just before sunset and the start of the Wildcats’ game against San Diego on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona boosted its lead to 6-4 two batters later when Mason White doubled home Aaron Walton, who had reached via a hit-by-pitch.
The Toreros scored all of their runs against the UA bullpen; USD, like Louisville before it, couldn’t figure out freshman starter Smith Bailey.
Bailey threw five scoreless innings in his second career start after putting up four zeroes against the Cardinals in his collegiate debut last weekend. Bailey, the top-ranked right-hander in the state via Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, stranded runners in the third, fourth and fifth. He allowed three hits, walked one batter and struck out three.
“Just throwing strikes with all his pitches,” Hale said. “It doesn't surprise me. It's impressive because it's his first time in college. But he did it all fall. He did it all preseason.
“I don't even think he had best stuff today, to be frank with you. He just was able to throw the breaking ball. He's very confident, which is a great thing for a young kid.”
Arizona batter Garen Caulfield flips his bat after drawing a walk against San Diego in the fourth inning of their game Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at Hi Corbett Field.
Bailey’s fellow freshman, Mason Russell, wasn’t as effective. The left-hander from Queen Creek allowed the tying runs to score in the seventh (charged to Garrett Hicks) and eighth, forcing Arizona to respond yet again.
The Wildcats recaptured the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Maddox Mihalakis led off with a single, advanced to second on Easton Breyfogle’s walk and scored on Andrew Cain’s single. Brendan Summerhill, Walton and Caulfield followed with run-scoring hits to complete a six-run inning and bump Arizona’s lead to 12-6.
Another newcomer, transfer Michael Hilker Jr., got the final four outs — including a strikeout with the go-ahead run on third base in the bottom of the eighth. Hilker allowed eight runs in two-thirds of an inning in his UA debut last Sunday.
Arizona’s overall response to the opening weekend mirrored how it deals with in-game adversity. The Wildcats’ win Saturday was a walk-off after a blown lead. Sunday played out similarly.
“You never want to panic,” Caulfield said. “That was the message we just got today. It was a great sweep, but we know (the Big 12 is) an offensive conference. That’s gonna happen to us, and we have to be resilient.”
Inside pitch
– USD, which went 41-15 and made the NCAA Tournament last year, is 0-7. All seven losses have come against Big 12 teams. The Toreros got swept by TCU last weekend.
– Splaine threw out 2 of 3 would-be base stealers Sunday. He’s 2 for 4 for this season and 3 for 6 since going 0 for 40 in 2023. Splaine primarily played first base last year and has split time between first and catcher this season.
– At least three automatic balls were called Sunday by the home-plate umpire because pitchers were attempting to pitch before betters were ready in the box. “You have to allow the hitter to look up,” Hale said. “The hitter has till eight seconds to look up. It happens to Garen a lot. Garen gets in the box, and he has a different way of getting ready, and the pitchers will start on him and kind of quick-pitch him. They're really trying to police that this year and doing a better job with it.”
