I’ve been trying to think of the perfect adjective to describe Nik McClaughry, Arizona’s sprightly, spirited senior shortstop, and I think I finally found it:
Audacious.
That might not be what you were expecting if you’ve watched McClaughry play for the Wildcats the past three seasons. Maybe steady or professional or heady or gamer.
But consider this: McClaughry has stolen home twice this season. Not on double steals or set plays. Of his own volition. Who even thinks about doing that these days?
“You can’t even start to talk about, ‘Hey, we’re going to try to steal home against this team, we’ve looked at this pitcher, we think we can do it,’ unless you have guys who don’t have any fear. He has no fear,” UA coach Chip Hale said Tuesday amid preparations for the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament opener against TCU on Friday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“That’s part of stealing bases. We have guys that are a lot faster than Nik. But not too many that are as fearless as Nik.”
McClaughry said he had never stolen home before this season. He got the idea from watching West Virginia’s all-world second baseman, J.J. Wetherholt, do it against Arizona in the home opener Feb. 24.
“I was like, ‘That was really smart,’ ” McClaughry said.
West Virginia infielder J.J. Wetherholt’s steal of home vs. Tommy Splaine and Arizona in February provided the inspiration for the Wildcats’ Nik McClaughry to do it to two times later in the season.
UA fans had some different adjectives in mind that night; Wetherhot’s steal of home provided the go-ahead run in the 11th inning.
McClaughry’s thievery came during Friday night games at Oregon State and Stanford. He first victimized a right-hander, then a lefty. It should be a lot easier to steal home against a left-hander; their back is to third base when they’re in the stretch. But if you pay attention to every little detail, as McClaughry does, it can be done.
McClaughry said the right-hander, OSU’s Trent Sellers, “kept looking down at the ground.” Additionally, Kiko Romero was at the plate. Teams often shift against powerful left-handed hitters, even with runners on base. That pulls the third baseman away from the bag and allows the runner to get a big lead.
But again, you gotta have some serious cojones to actually try to steal home.
“Just saying screw it and going” is how McClaughry summed it up. “There’s nothing much to really think about.”
Stanford had a lefty on the hill, Drew Dowd, and Arizona had Chase Davis at the plate — another left-handed batter with pull tendencies.
“In both those situations, the third baseman was really far off the line,” McClaughry said. “So that’s the one thing I noticed. And then I just talked to Toby (DeMello) at third base, saying, ‘Can I go?’ And he says, ‘Yes.’ ”
These rain drops on May 18 at Hi Corbett Field were about the only thing Nik McClaughry failed to catch while being named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
The theft in Corvallis came in the fifth inning and gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead they held until the bottom of the ninth. The one at Stanford came in the eighth and knotted the score at 8-8. McClaughry’s derring-do times two would’ve gotten more attention if Arizona had won either of those games. It will no doubt be discussed this weekend with the Wildcats back in the spotlight.
McClaughry’s audacity also appears when he’s at the plate. He has adopted a between-pitches maneuver that former teammate Tanner O’Tremba utilized.
McClaughry sweeps his right leg toward the mound. It’s a bit, shall we say, aggressive.
“ ‘OT’ is one of my best friends,” McClaughry said. “Just seeing him in the box, he always had that presence where you knew ... everyone was watching and the pitcher was afraid of him.
“No one wanted to pitch to Tanner. Just that mentality of, ‘It’s my box and no one can mess with me.’ That’s been huge.”
O’Tremba had a bigger presence in the box; he was listed at 6 feet, 212 pounds. And he was liable to smack the ball to or over the fence. He had 36 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs, in 2022, his final season as a Wildcat.
McClaughry is listed at 5-9, 159. He has eight home runs in 641 at-bats at Arizona.
No pitchers are afraid of Nik McClaughry.
But underestimate him at your own peril. He is no longer a glove-only shortstop. (Best glove in the Pac-12, by the way.)
Arizona shortstop Nik McClaughry runs down a high chopper by Oregon’s Rikuu Nishida that ended up an infield RBI single and a 3-1 Ducks lead in the fourth inning of the Pac-12 Tournament championship game in Scottsdale on May 27, 2023.
McClaughry has posted career highs in just about every offensive category. His batting average of .336 is 71 points higher than last season’s .265.
“He works diligently,” Hale said. “He and Garen (Caulfield) and Mac Bingham, they’re in the cage nonstop on their own.”
McClaughry attributed his offensive improvement to “just dialing in my swing a little bit” and being healthier. He got banged up a bit last season, he said, “and that screwed me up at the plate.”
He also bats second in a stacked lineup, something that can be viewed in two ways: (1) McClaughry earned that spot; and (2) he’s in an ideal position to succeed.
Bingham, the leadoff hitter, has a .369 average and a .441 on-base percentage. Davis and Romero, the third- and fourth-place hitters, lead the Pac-12 in home runs and RBIs, respectively. So McClaughry should get plenty of pitches to hit.
“We got a lot of other really good hitters on this team,” he said. “There’s no pressure for me or anybody to do too much. I got Chase Davis, who’s probably one of the best players in college baseball, and then Kiko Romero, RBI leader in school history, so all I got to do is get on base ... and they’ll knock me in.”
McClaughry leads the Wildcats and is tied for 19th nationally with 71 runs scored.
The parts of his game that can’t be quantified — his boldness, his will to win — truly make him special.
“He’s our glue,” Hale said. “He’s the coach on the field. He keeps everybody going.
“He has a huge heart. He has a huge desire to win. He has a huge desire to play at the next level. So hoping he will get a chance. I know he will.”
Arizona SS Nik McClaughry on the Wildcats making it into the NCAA Tournament and taking a “nothing to lose” approach to Fayetteville (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)
