Arizona defeated Utah 8-7 on Sunday at Hi Corbett Field, and boy did the Wildcats need it.
Arizona entered the series finale on a four-game losing streak, its longest of the season. The last two of those came against a Utah club that entered the weekend in last place in the Big 12 Conference.
“Most importantly for the mojo and confidence,” said junior outfielder Brendan Summerhill, who had three of the Wildcats’ 16 hits. “I don’t necessarily think everything’s been bad, just the result has (been).
“We gotta keep fighting. There’s a lot of season left. We gotta keep biting at the bone and keep competing.”
While Arizona’s RPI plummeted — all but ensuring that the Wildcats won’t host an NCAA regional — its chances of finishing in the top four in the Big 12 remain promising.
Arizona (34-17, 16-11) closes the regular season at Houston (28-22, 11-15). The UA is tied for fifth place in the league with Kansas State. They’re one game behind Kansas and TCU, who are tied for third.
Arizona’s Brendan Summerhill (4) beats the pickoff throw to Utah first baseman Cameron Gurney (18) in the seventh inning of their Big 12 game May 9, at Hi Corbett Field.
More likely than not, Arizona played its last home game of the season Sunday. The Wildcats will go directly from Houston to the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington. Essentially, their postseason begins Thursday against the Cougars.
“That’s how we’re going to take it,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “We’re going to go after Houston. The three games are super important to us for seeding in our conference. The other thing is, we just gotta play good baseball. I thought we played a lot better today.”
It wasn’t easy by any means. The Wildcats squandered leads of 4-0, 5-4 and 7-5.
They finally took control in the bottom of the eighth inning. On Arizona’s Senior Day, a pair of sophomores put the Wildcats ahead for good.
Andrew Cain led off the inning with a double to right-center. Easton Breyfogle drove him in with a groundball single up the middle.
Both players had been struggling. Cain was hitting .231 entering Sunday, Breyfogle .205. In conference play, those numbers were .172 and .161, respectively.
Arizona runner Easton Breyfogle gestures to the dugout after legging out a triple against Oklahoma State in the seventh inning of the second game of their Big 12 series April 12, 2025, at Hi Corbett Field.
They combined to go 4 for 9 Sunday.
“It felt good,” Breyfogle said. “This year obviously hasn’t been what I wanted it to be. But at this point it’s just trying to put my team in the best position to win — going up there with the right mindset, flushing the at-bat before and just trying to get the job done.”
Junior right-hander Tony Pluta got the win, throwing two hitless innings to finish the game. Arizona improved to 9-1 in one-run games, and Pluta — who has a league-high 11 saves — has had a lot to do with that.
Utah made it interesting till the very end. Tyler Quinn made the final out on a flyball to the warning track in left.
“I thought we did a good job of responding. And so did they,” Hale said. “The last out of the game was at the fence. Thank God we caught it.”
Sunday’s win followed what was arguably the Wildcats’ worst performance since opening weekend.
How bad was it Saturday? Arizona pitchers walked 13 batters — the most by a UA staff since March 1, 2020, vs. Rhode Island (14). The Wildcats were fifth in the nation in fewest walks allowed per nine innings entering the weekend.
Arizona reliever Tony Pluta (37) throws in the bullpen as the sun goes down over Hi Corbett Field and the Wildcats get ready to take on Utah in a Big 12 game May 9, 2025.
UA pitchers also hit four batters and threw three wild pitches. Utah scored three runs on wild pitches and needed just nine hits to score 13 runs.
Freshman Smith Bailey gave the Wildcats a solid start Sunday. Bailey surrendered four runs in a career-high six innings. All of those runs came in the fifth and sixth as the Utes erased the Wildcats’ 4-0 lead.
Still, Bailey didn’t walk a batter. And because he went six, Arizona didn’t have to tax its bullpen.
“It was probably the key to the game, giving us the length,” Hale said. “We needed a great start from Smith. I don’t want to put too much pressure on the freshman, but we really needed it with where the bullpen was.
“I thought he controlled everything, threw his breaking ball for strikes, threw his changeup for strikes.
“That’s huge for him. That’s what he did early in the season. Super proud of him.”
Arizona reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Adonys Guzman scored on a wild pitch. The Wildcats gave it back in the top of the seventh via the same type of self-inflicted wounds that hurt them Saturday.
Arizona’s Mason White (24) comes to the dugout after slashing his second three-run homer against Utah in the ninth inning of their Big 12 game May 9, at Hi Corbett Field.
After retiring the leadoff hitter on a groundout, Casey Hintz surrendered a bunt single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk to load the bases. A sacrifice fly to left tied the score.
Breyfogle put Arizona back on top with a solo home run to right, his third homer of the season and his first since March 26. Maddox Mihalakis’ RBI double — his fourth hit of the game — made it 7-5.
Hintz hit Kaden Carpenter to lead off the top of the eighth, then surrendered a two-run homer to Drake Digiorno, his second of the game. That put the onus back on Arizona’s offense, which came through in the bottom half.
“Today is a game that can really give us some confidence, because we haven’t won a lot of one-run games that we have to outhit the other team,” Summerhill said. “We did that today, and we feel really good about doing that to anyone. If it took 12, if it took 13, we knew we were gonna get it done.”
Inside pitch
– Junior shortstop Mason White hit a two-run home run in the fourth. It was his third homer of the series and the 41st of his career, third most in UA history.
– Arizona’s 16 hits were its most in a Big 12 game and its most this season since March 8 vs. Pepperdine (25).
– Breyfogle came out of the game in the ninth inning for precautionary reasons. He’s been battling a quadriceps injury.
– Six of Arizona’s seven seniors participated in the pregame Senior Day ceremony: first baseman/catcher Tommy Splaine, infielder Richie Morales and pitchers Raul Garayzar, Matthew Martinez, Eric Orloff and Julian Tonghini. All the players’ moms threw out first pitches.
– Second baseman Garen Caulfield did not participate in the ceremony after doing so last year. Caulfield is a sixth-year college player after spending his first two seasons at San Juaquin Delta College, where he didn’t play because of COVID-related cancellations.
