SCOTTSDALE – If you ride the roller coaster long enough, you start to anticipate the scary moments and they become a lot easier to deal with.
Kiko Romero single home Nick McClaughry at the bottom of ninth place, giving Arizona a 13-12 win over Oregon State in Wednesday afternoon’s Pac-12 tournament at Scottsdale Stadium. The eighth-seeded Wildcats (32-23) won Pool A by a 2-0 record and advanced to Friday’s semifinals while continuing their fight for a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Arizona retaliated for two walkoff losses to second-seeded Beavers (39-17) late last month by recovering from an early 4-run hole and eventually taking a 4-run lead after six holes, but then took the lead returned in the eighth hole.
In other words, an Arizona game like in 2023.
“I mean, that’s what we are all year round,” UA Coach Chip Hale called. “We’ve had some absolutely staggering losses, especially against this team. And they just kept fighting. I was just happy that we had the last shot.”
Arizona was able to get away thanks to a masterful escape Chris Barraza, who pinned two runners in goal position at the end of the eighth heat and then started the third heat, without in the ninth heat. But the fifth-year right-hander, who started the day with a 7.30 ERA and had given up 11 runs in his last six appearances, got a lineout and then back-to-back strikeouts to keep OSU from progressing.
“He’s the one who took the brunt up at Corvallis,” Hale said. “Coming back and getting those strikeouts is just amazing. I am very proud of him.”
At the end of the ninth MacBingham Then he was singed with an out in the middle Nick McClaughry swung one to the right to put Bingham in third place. Chase Daviswho hit his 20th home run of the season in the first inning hit a low liner and finished OSU second Travis Bazzana– on playback – started a hop, spun and then shot home to easily get Bingham to the plate.
Hale said Bingham should have gone back to third base after initially waiting to see if the ball was caught, but he understands the predicament his midfielder found himself in.
“It reads that the second baseman tried to catch the ball, which is fine,” Hale said. “I’ve practiced third long enough to know that it looks different there than where I sit (on the dugout). But once you see that, just persevere and go back to third place. Bazzana put on an incredible performance in the big league right there. That was phenomenal. Once you see him spinning it and you’re halfway there, just backtrack. Now we have loaded the bases.”
Instead, Romero finished 2nd and 3rd with two misses. He also had two hits in game six when he fended off a 3-run home run in the cantina behind right field 8-6 to give Arizona their first lead.
Against OSU closer Ryan BrownHowever, he was just trying to get the ball in play.
“I kind of thought they were going to surround me a little bit and he did a little bit but when he made it 3-0 he kind of came straight at me,” said Romero, who scored four to equalize he reached in 84 points this season, which is two points behind, the second-highest tally in school history Ron Hasseys Record set in 1974. “So I just stayed in the middle and tried not to pull anything and it kind of worked.”
Arizona hit 20 for the fourth time this season and needed almost every one of them as OSU went 4-0 up CamWalty. Walty had suspended the Beavers for seven innings on April 28, but this time he lasted only three and allowed six runs.
The Wildcats scored a goal in each inning from the first through sixth, but were unable to equalize or take the lead until they earned a six-sixth in the sixth to take a 12-8 lead. They led by five points after six innings at OSU on April 30, but then lost 11-10 and it wasn’t long before the Beavers regained that lead.
OSU scored two goals in game seven and two in game eight to level the 12th game, and it was hard to imagine that in a season full of goals like that, that would be another missed opportunity. Hale said there was some frustration in the dugout — “everybody wants to be that guy” — but McClaughry said he and his teammates have been through the same scenario enough times that they know how to get through it.
“You have to try to slow down in big moments,” McClaughry said. “It’s easy to be in control of yourself in the first inning, but it’s important to be in control of yourself in the ninth inning. I told that to Barraza when he was on the hill. I thought just slow it down, have fun, and you got it. That’s all you have to do. You have to take a deep breath and get to the next pitch.”
McClaughry was 4 of 5 and had three runs, including the win. On Tuesday he was Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Yearbut he said he was prouder to have made the all-conference team.
Romero said: “He is the spark plug for this team. He has a fiery little attitude. He just makes us shine every time. He takes on big tasks when we need them.”
Arizona now gets a much-needed day off as it eliminates its semifinal opponent. With the Wildcats being the lowest-seeded players to advance (No. 9 Cal were eliminated after losing their opener Tuesday), the Wildcats will face the highest-seeded players to make the semifinals unless , it is OSU as teams from the same group can only meet in the title game.
Top seed Stanford, whom Arizona beat 21-20 in 10 innings two weeks ago to avoid an away win, would be UA’s opponent if they beat Cal tonight (or are 1-1 in Pool C). If the Cardinals win 2-0, the Wildcats would play the Group B winner, either No. 3 Washington or No. 4 USC, teams they have won two of three games at home this season.
Ahead of the Pac-12 tournament, Hale said he believes making the last four might be enough to earn Arizona a general NCAA bid. Now that it happened?
“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “We want to win this tournament, that’s why we came here.”
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