Alex Keudell and the Ducks catapulted past Arizona.
Photo by Thomas Patterson/Statesman Journal

It took a while for the battle for first place to settle in. The Oregon Ducks and Arizona Wildcats each won handily in the first two games of the baseball series in Tucson.

The rubber match, however, was worthy of championship-level hype. The contest featured quality pitching, pressure-packed at-bats, and a Hi Corbett-sized helping of controversy.

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The Ducks and Bruins hope to race back to the top of the standings.
Photo by Thomas Patterson/Statesman Journal

The three-way tie at the top of the Pac-12 baseball standings has been broken, at least for the time being.

The UCLA Bruins and Oregon Ducks look to close the gap on Arizona while holding off challenges from Stanford and Oregon State. The 1st-place Wildcats step out of conference and hope to find answers for their bullpen woes.

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Jeff Gelalich and UCLA were in control at Hi Corbett Field.
Photo by Andy Morales

Two weeks ago the University of Arizona baseball team was on top of the world. After a shockingly impressive sweep against then-No. 2 Stanford, all was well in the Wildcat Universe.

But the Cats struggled to get by last-place Utah last week and then suffered their first weekend series defeat at Hi Corbett Field. Is it time to panic?

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Robert Refsnyder bashed his first home run at Hi Corbett Field.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

I messed up.

We talked about how one Arizona win against Stanford would keep the Wildcats on pace to host a regional. We said winning twice would allow the UA to dream of a conference championship.

I didn’t even consider the possibility of winning all three.

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The UA tagged the Beavers with two losses in a bang-bang series.
Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez/Statesman Journal

The Arizona Wildcats won a baseball series at Oregon State over the weekend. For the second straight week the Cats dropped the opener but rallied to win the final two games.

Taking two of three from a ranked opponent on the road sure looks great on a postseason resume. Yes, the season is long but this the exact time a team wants to be winning games if it hopes to host a regional.

And it’s the exact time Arizona has failed in recent years.

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