SCOTTSDALE — Did Mason White’s home run Wednesday night look familiar?
Arizona’s slugging sophomore shortstop launched a three-run blast over the right field wall at Scottsdale Stadium in the third inning of the UA’s Pac-12 Tournament opener vs. Washington. The ball came off the bat at 109.3 mph and traveled 443 feet.
The way the left-handed-hitting White flipped his hips, dropped his bat and admired the majestic shot reminded anyone who saw it of one of his former teammates.
“I played a lot of games with Chase Davis,” White said. “I watched that for a full season. So I get to replicate him now.”
This particular home run reminded White of the one Davis hit here in last year’s Pac-12 Tournament semifinals vs. Stanford.
“It was kind of a flashback,” White said.
Speaking of flashbacks, the Wildcats and Cardinal will meet again in this year’s semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday. No. 8 seed Stanford won Pool B by sweeping ASU and Oregon State. No. 1 seed Arizona faced Cal in the final pool-play game Thursday night — a contest that had no impact on the Wildcats, who advanced to the semifinals by defeating the Huskies 6-5.
White’s home run was his 18th of the season and the 28th of his two-year UA career. The Salpointe Catholic High School grad entered the Cal game with 99 career RBIs and 100 runs scored.
White didn’t have a great series last week vs. Oregon State, going 1 for 12. UA coach Chip Hale sought to boost White’s confidence before they headed to the ballpark Wednesday. He went 2 for 4 with four RBIs.
“I just said it’s time to plant your flag in this conference and show who you are — show everybody across the country who you are,” Hale said. “This is an impactful shortstop. You saw him throw the ball across the diamond. And he’s got tremendous power.”
White’s game isn’t for everyone. He had a team-high 82 strikeouts entering the Cal game. He also had a team-high 32 walks and a .300/.391/.600 slash line.
His biggest takeaway from the talk with Hale?
“Just being me, playing baseball the way I play baseball and not worrying about what people think.”
Arizona’s Easton Breyfogle signals back to the UA dugout from second base during the top-seeded Wildcats’ 6-5 Pac-12 Tournament-opening victory Wednesday against ninth-seeded Washington at Scottsdale Stadium.
Breyfogle back
Freshman Easton Breyfogle returned to the lineup Wednesday, giving Arizona’s injury-depleted outfield a needed boost.
Breyfogle had been out since suffering a hamstring injury at UW on April 27. One of the Wildcats’ fastest players, Breyfogle didn’t run at his usual pace. That was by design. Hale and the training staff advised him to go at about 80%.
Still, Hale was worried when Breyfogle, playing right field, labored after AJ Guerrero’s home run in the first inning.
“I immediately went to Ben (Kmetz), our trainer, and said, ‘He can’t run like that. If he’s gonna run like that, we gotta get him out.’ And then I thought he got better as the game went on,” Hale said.
Breyfogle said he felt “good” but conceded to being “a little timid” while going after flyballs after feeling some tugs in the hamstring during practice. He had to check himself on a groundball to first base, slowing to a jog upon realizing he had no chance to beat it out. He also put himself on cruise control on a double to right field in the sixth, resisting the urge to try to stretch it into a triple.
“It’s just wired in me that right when I hit it, I jump out of the box,” Breyfogle said. “I’m like reminding myself right away, ‘Slow down, slow down.’ You don’t want to tweak anything.”
Hale took Breyfogle out in the bottom of the ninth.
One of Arizona’s other injured outfielders, Emilio Corona (hand), pinch-ran for DH Andrew Cain in the top of the ninth. TJ Adams (shoulder) remained sidelined.
Yellow card-worthy
The bottom of the seventh vs. UW featured a strange play that worked in Arizona’s favor.
With runners on first and second, the Huskies’ Luke Rohleder hit a chopper to UA second baseman Garen Caulfield. Caulfield fielded the ball and tried to tag baserunner Colton Bower, who slid into Caulfield. The problem with that: Bower was about 20 feet shy of second base.
The umpires ruled that Bower obstructed Caulfield, who tumbled to the dirt on the play, and awarded the Wildcats a double play.
Arizona coach Chip Hale chats with his team after the top-seeded Wildcats’ 6-5 Pac-12 Tournament-opening victory against ninth-seeded Washington on May 22, 2024, at Scottsdale Stadium.
“If he had his way, he would have tagged him and thrown to first,” Hale said. “But the contact was too impactful. He obviously got knocked over. When I played (you could) run people over.”
Said White: “We were all surprised that the dude soccer-slid him in the middle of the infield. The umpire didn’t know what to do. So he made sure we got the double play.”
The case for Arizona
Arizona had an RPI of 29 entering Thursday’s game, but Hale believes the Wildcats — who won the Pac-12 regular-season title — have a shot to be one of the 16 regional hosts in the NCAA Tournament.
“We feel like if we can win this tournament, we can get a host (spot),” Hale said. “That’s my opinion.”
Hale then channeled his inner Bill Walton.
“Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona should host,” Hale said. “Maybe I’m crazy. But all three teams to me seem deserving of it. We have to prove it. We have to play well, all of us.”
No. 3 seed Oregon was eliminated Thursday afternoon by No. 4 USC, which advanced to the semifinals by winning Pool C.
Inside pitch
OSU eliminated ASU in the first game Thursday. The Sun Devils dropped a pair of one-run games in the tournament — and every single run they allowed was scored in the fourth inning (eight vs. Stanford, three vs. OSU).
While Thursday’s game was meaningless for Arizona, it meant everything for Cal — and Oregon State. A Cal win would send the Golden Bears into the semifinals vs. the Trojans. A loss would eliminate them and push the Beavers into the semis.
Arizona coach Chip Hale meets with the media after the Wildcats' 6-5 victory over Washington on Day 2 of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament at Scottsdale Stadium (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)
