“Just another day at the office,” Arizona coach Chip Hale said with a chuckle before his postgame interview began Sunday.
Walk-off wins never get old. But for the 2024 Wildcats, they almost have become routine.
No. 21 Arizona defeated Washington State 7-6 in 11 innings at Hi Corbett Field, winning by walk-off for the fifth time during what has ballooned into a 10-game conference winning streak.
The Wildcats (24-14, 13-5 Pac-12) set a school record with their ninth straight league win Saturday night. That one came with relatively little drama — a 7-1 victory in which Arizona took the lead in the fifth inning and was never seriously threatened.
Triumph No. 10 marked the Wildcats’ fifth walk-off win in their past six conference home games. They also walked off Louisiana Tech on April 13.
“We never quit,” said sophomore shortstop Mason White, who delivered the winning run with a bases-loaded single up the middle. “It just doesn’t ever end. To beat us, you gotta beat us through nine innings. You’re not going to beat us in the first or the fifth.”
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 Sunday.
Sometimes nine innings isn’t enough either; Sunday marked the fourth win during the streak that required extra frames.
As exhilarating as the streak has been, though, there is a flip side: The Wildcats wouldn’t have needed to win via walk-off so often if their bullpen were better at holding leads.
Sunday marked the fifth time since the streak began that the UA bullpen squandered a lead in the seventh inning or later.
Arizona led 6-3 through four innings. WSU (18-20, 7-14) scored two runs in the seventh inning off Eric Orloff and one in the ninth off Kyler Heyne, who was one strike away from ending the game.
“It’s a little bit of a concern, and we’d like to find a few other guys,” Hale said. “We’ll try some guys out against New Mexico State on Wednesday because we can’t keep going to the same guys two or three times in a weekend.”
Arizona got another quality start out of Cam Walty, who allowed three runs in six innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six Cougars. Walty’s season ERA sits at 2.55, best among UA starters. Jackson Kent (2.64) and Clark Candiotti (3.34) aren’t too far behind.
The Wildcats celebrate their latest walk-off win, a 7-6 victory over Washington State in 11 innings on Sunday.
The Wildcats scored at least one run in each of the first four innings before their bats went cold. The bullpen got considerable help from middle infielders White and Garen Caulfield, who turned three double plays in the final four innings.
“It was huge,” White said. “The pitchers got us groundballs, and our job is to turn them when we do get them. We cashed in.”
Caulfield turned two 4-3 double plays, and a 6-4-3 wiped out a leadoff single in the 11th.
Tommy Splaine got hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom half. Blake McDonald bunted him to second. Brendan Summerhill was intentionally walked. Then Caulfield got grazed by a pitch, loading the bases for White with one out.
White bounced a 3-1 pitch from Duke Brotherton up the middle against a drawn-in infield to score Splaine and set off yet another walk-off celebration.
“It’s pretty cool because I used to be in the stands watching it and was so excited seeing a walk-off,” said White, who attended Salpointe Catholic High School. “But now actually doing it on the field, it’s definitely surreal. I imagined doing it as a young kid, but now doing it’s like, ‘This is real, this is cool.’ ”
Arizona sophomore outfielder Brendan Summerhill went 3 for 4 against Washington State on Sunday, extending his on-base streak to 32 games.
Arizona improved to 5-1 in its past six games decided by one run. Before the Pac-12 winning streak began on March 24, the Wildcats were 1-6 in one-run games. Their last two league losses were by scores of 3-2 and 2-1 at Oregon.
“Number one, I think they got tired of losing them,” Hale said. “And they want to be the guy to win it. It’s just a hit. It’s just a walk. It’s a hit batsman. That’s how we won that game. Hit batsman, good bunt, another hit batsman and then a big hit by Mason.”
Inside pitch
Left fielder Easton Breyfogle got hit in the right elbow by a pitch in the second inning and appeared to be in great pain. He was flexing his arm while running the bases but remained in the game. He wore an elbow pad in each of his subsequent at-bats.
White went 2 for 5 with two runs batted in. He leads the team with 49 RBIs.
Summerhill, back in the leadoff spot with Richie Morales out of the lineup, went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Summerhill also had three hits Saturday. He has reached base via a hit or walk in 32 straight games and 36 of 37 appearances overall this season.
WSU coach Nathan Choate was ejected by plate umpire Patrick Riley in the top of the ninth after disputing a fair/foul call. Max Hartman‘s bunt stopped just past the plate. Riley ruled it fair. The runner on first advanced to second on the play, and Hartman was thrown out at first.
Arizona has swept its past four weekend series, including a nonconference set vs. Louisiana Tech. The Wildcats last accomplished that feat in 1998.
