Johnny Field and the UA bats have started clicking.
Photo by Andy Morales

The Pac-12 takes a week off from heavyweight battles as there are no series between ranked teams.

That’s just fine with the Arizona Wildcats who look to keep their season-long six-game winning streak alive on the road.

The polls are a little more welcoming to the Pac-12 this week:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
US = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Arizona and Stanford each snuck into the 25 slot in one poll this week after a one-week hiatus for the Cardinal and a two-week departure for the Cats.

Here are this week’s matchups:

#25.8 ARIZONA (21-11 / 6-6) at WSU (17-13 / 4-5)
The Pac-12 site is saying there will be a live video stream of all three games in Pullman. Start times are 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

Utah (14-14 / 4-8) at #6.2 OSU (25-6 / 7-2)
The Beavers further established themselves as the team to beat in the Pac-12 by taking two of three at UCLA. Oregon State held the Bruins to five total runs in the series.

#11.8 Oregon (24-8 / 9-3) at Cal (16-16 / 5-7)
The Bears have now lost eight of their last nine games against Pac-12 teams after starting 4-0 in conference play.

#19.0 ASU (19-9 / 6-6) at USC (12-20 / 5-7)
The Wildcats and Sun Devils are tied in the Pac-12 standings but in any sort of power rankings you’d have to give ASU the edge due to series wins over both UCLA and Oregon.

Washington (8-22 / 2-7) at #25.8 Stanford (17-10 / 5-4)
The Cardinal has won the first game in each of its Pac-12 series behind pitcher Mark Appel but Stanford is winless in the three weekend finales.

LMU (17-15) at #14.8 UCLA (20-9 / 7-5)
The Bruins spend the week outside of conference play after losing their last two Pac-12 series.

* * *

The BatCats are officially the hottest team in the Pac-12. Nobody else has a current win streak longer than two games.

Junior outfielder Johnny Field says the offense was to blame for the poor start in conference play.

“The first six games we weren’t executing at all at the plate,” Field said. “We weren’t getting bunts down, weren’t moving guys over when we had to.”

The run production has improved but Arizona is still leaving a lot of runners on base. Even in sweeping Cal the UA stranded 30 men in the three games. If the team is going to continue its upward climb the Cats will have to cash in on those opportunities for big innings.

“It’s all about finding ways to string hits together,” Field said.

Look for both teams to put runs on the boards as the Cougars and Wildcats are first and second in the Pac-12 in team batting average and second and first, respectively, in runs scored.

The UA doesn’t play another conference home game this month so the Cats would be wise to stuff their suitcases with as many runs as possible.

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Scott Terrell isn’t one for traveling light. Unload your baggage on Twitter and Facebook.

Johnny Field was the Regional MVP and hand gesture champion.
Photo by Andy Morales, TucsonCitizen.com

So this is why college baseball teams like to host regionals.

If Saturday was a carbon copy of Friday then Sunday was a facsimile of a copy. Only in this case, the reproductions were just as a sharp as the original.

15-3, 16-4, 16-3. Thanks for coming, Louisville and Missouri. Hope you got to see the new elephants at the zoo.

That’s not a knock on the Cardinals or Tigers. Every team in this field was a regular season champion or conference tournament champ. When the brackets were analyzed the Tucson Regional was considered one of the toughest. The Wildcats were just that good.

UA coach Andy Lopez couldn’t have drawn it up any better. Line drives all over the ballpark leading to big innings. Starting pitchers executing with the lead allowing the arm-thin Cats to go to the bullpen for a grand total of three outs.

“I think we’re a good team,” Lopez said. “I think (the players have) proven that. They play hard. A good team that plays hard is tough to beat.”

Arizona’s treatment of the regional’s competition made one dig deep for adequate descriptors. Devastated? Annihilated? Laid waste the sky as well as the earth?

“That’s definitely the best team we’ve played all year,” Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell summarized. That list includes tournament teams Mississippi, Kentucky, Purdue, Pepperdine…

And St. John’s.

The Wildcats continued to get help from their friends. A week after Oregon State swept Oregon to give the UA a shot at earning a share of the Pac-12 championship, the Red Storm of St. John’s beat No. 6 North Carolina twice to win the Chapel Hill Regional. With the national seed out of the way Arizona is in line to host the Super Regionals at Hi Corbett Field next weekend.

The Super sites won’t be officially announced until later today. Logic says Arizona, the 1-seed in its region, should get the nod over 3-seed St. John’s, but this is college baseball where geography is always a factor and hosting sites are sometimes awarded to northern teams to promote “national balance.”

Will the NCAA give a Super Regional to a rare northeastern participant as opposed to a third team from the Pac-12?

“My hope is (to host),” Lopez said. “But I learned a long time ago that sometimes expectations are the wrong way to live.”

Lopez added that he hoped the NCAA would view the weekend’s attendance numbers – over 12,500 for the three UA games – and Arizona’s Pac-12 championship as additional reasons to put the next round in Tucson.

Winning the Pac-12 looks even better after the last three days. Eight host teams went 3-0 in regional play and half of them came from the Pac-12.

The Wildcats should be playing for a trip to the College World Series on their home field. If not we’ll have to dig deep to adequately describe the outrage.

* * *

It was the one question that kept coming up over the weekend. From Twitter, via text, people weren’t asking, “Does Arizona always hit this well?” or “Why aren’t they putting on the wheel play in an obvious bunting situation?”

No, people wanted to know: What’s the deal what that hand gesture?

You saw it when Joey Rickard or Johnny Field stood up after a double or triple. They looked toward their dugout, waved their right hand behind their head and teammates would do it back.

I asked Field about it after the game. He said that’s the sign the coaches use to tell the outfielders to play “no doubles” defense. In other words, back up and don’t let the ball get by you.

When used after another shot in the gap the message is simple: You just got beat again.

Cocky? Perhaps. But nothing wrong with showing a little fire this time of year.

Brash? Yes. Forty-seven runs’ worth.

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Scott Terrell will just have to continue the live updates from the Super Regional on Twitter with analysis on Facebook.

This new edition of Bobby Brown hopes to win a title.
Photo by Andy Morales

With Arizona playing a non-conference series, Oregon took full advantage by sweeping three from Cal and moving into 1st place in the Pac-12 baseball standings.

It sets up a true 1 vs. 2 showdown in Tucson this weekend between the Ducks and Wildcats. But can both teams hold off the challenges from teams 3 and 4? What exactly will it take to win this league?

Wait, you’re saying, haven’t we had the battle for 1st place three times already? Well…yes, when the Cats played Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA. And if you count UCLA against Oregon that’s four.

But this will be the last one.

You can look at the standard standings but whenever competing teams have played a different number of games it’s also useful to sort things by the loss column. A team can always win out but it can’t take away losses.

So Oregon State has played the same number of conference games as Arizona but the Beavers have three more losses. With just four series left (and no more head-to-head opportunities) it’s going to be really hard for OSU to catch the Cats.

Drawing the line above Oregon State, here’s how the four remaining contenders have done against each Pac-12 team thus far:

Arizona’s best friend down the stretch will be those Beavers. The Wildcats already own a series win over OSU while the Beavers still play Stanford and Oregon.

Here are the remaining weekend series for the players in the Pac-12 race:

ARIZONA – 6 losses
Oregon
at Cal
at USC
ASU

If we give Arizona exactly two wins in each remaining series that’s a .667 winning percentage which is the exact benchmark we’ve been discussing all year.
Projected Pac-12 record: 20-10

Oregon – 7 losses
at Arizona
USC
(Seattle U.)
at OSU

If Oregon picks up two losses in Tucson the Ducks would only have one remaining loss to play with. USC at home looks sweepable but it’s reasonable to think OSU can take one in the baseball version of the Civil War.
Projected Pac-12 record: 20-10

Stanford – 8 losses
at OSU
WSU
at Utah
Cal

After starting 5-7 Stanford has hit its stride going 5-1 in the last two series. As a result Wildcat Universe should root hard against Stanford this weekend in Corvallis. The Cardinal finishes with three series against teams with losing conference records and it’s conceivable Stanford sweeps all three. The wild card is Washington State who hasn’t been swept by anybody all year.
Projected Pac-12 record: 21-9

UCLA – 9 losses
(Purdue)
at Washington
at Cal
USC

The Bruins have lost their last two series and haven’t swept anyone but last-place Utah. It looks like the defending champs’ run is done.
Projected Pac-12 record: 18-12

So, yes, it’s possible Arizona loses only one series all year and still ends up losing the conference to a team it swept.

The bottom line is the Wildcats have to win each of the four remaining series and either need to pick up one more sweep along the way or have Stanford stumble against Washington State.

But the Cats can’t worry about staying ahead of Stanford if they don’t catch Oregon first. The final head-to-head battle for 1st place begins at Hi Corbett Field on Friday.

* * *

The East Tennessee State series produced one close game and two laughers. Lots of guys fattened their batting stats but nobody enjoyed the Buccaneers’ visit more than Bobby Brown. The UA’s designated hitter batted 9-for-12 (.750) with a double, two triples, a home run, six runs, nine runs batted in and three stolen bases.

(OK, Johnny Field will be equally sad to see ETSU go. 11-for-15 (.733), four doubles, two triples, seven runs and seven RBIs.)

What makes Brown’s onslaught so remarkable is the number of chances he’s needed to get here. Pointing out that a college baseball player is a fifth-year senior is as much of a compliment as saying a woman has “a nice personality.” If you’re expected to contribute anything you don’t redshirt and you’re supposed to go pro after your junior year.

Brown’s path has been unorthodox. He sat out in 2008 and only got five at-bats the following season. He started 33 games as a redshirt sophomore and seemed poised to be a frontline player but last year he was relegated to pinch-hitting duty and had just 33 at-bats all season.

Brown began 2012 as the starting DH but even lost that job just three weeks in to freshman Joe Maggi. But Brown kept working, waited for his turn, and waited for his next turn. Now he’s the team leader with six triples, second on the squad in slugging percentage (.569), and third with two home runs. The persevering fifth-year senior is a key bat in the middle of a lineup trying to do some big things.

One of those big things is winning the first Pac-12 championship.

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Scott Terrell loves a good pennant race. Fly your flag on Twitter and Facebook.

Strike one.
Photo by Anthony Gimino/TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team had a new home but a familiar opponent, a North Dakota State team that got swept in Tucson by a combined score of 30-2 last year.

The crowds came out to Hi Corbett Field but the home team’s season of high hopes got off to a sluggish start.

Opening night’s 3-1 win, with the exception of a few technical difficulties and a lack of offense, went as well as the UA could’ve hoped. The struggles at the plate continued into Saturday and the Arizona bullpen faltered late giving the Bison a surprising 8-2 victory. The Cats bounced back on Sunday behind an impressive debut to win the game, 8-0, and the series.

Fan support was strong in all three games and the weekend’s attendance equaled just shy of a quarter of the home attendance all of last year. That shows how much interest in the program had eroded but it underlines what a positive jolt the change in venues has been in the community.

The crowds were appreciated in the Wildcat dugout. “Our guys had a great time playing in front of this kind of atmosphere,” coach Andy Lopez said.

Sophomore left fielder Johnny Field added, “The atmosphere was just unreal and we hope that crowds like this can continue all year. It can definitely help us out a lot if they do.”

Will the fans from opening weekend come back? If they like good starting pitching they certainly will. The rotation of junior Kurt Heyer and sophomores Konner Wade and James Farris combined to throw 23.1 innings while striking out 26, walking four and allowing just three earned runs for a 1.16 ERA.

Farris, the least experienced of the trio, turned in the best performance. The first out the right-hander recorded on Sunday was just the fourth out of his college career. Twenty-six outs later his first start turned into his first win, first complete game and first shutout. Not a lot of room to top it when his second career start comes around.

At the plate the Wildcats weren’t quite ready for prime time. Even in the Friday night victory the three runs and seven scattered hits didn’t come close to the thrashing of NDSU in last year’s opening series.

“Offensively, it’s sort of embarrassing,” said Robert Refsnyder after Saturday’s loss. “I hold myself accountable as an older guy, as a junior.” The right fielder led by example in the rubber match posting four hits and three RBIs. Refsnyder and Field combined for 13 of the Wildcats’ 22 hits in the series.

Alex Mejia, who hit .335 as a natural right-hander last year, hit .333 (3-for-9) for the weekend batting left-handed for the first time in his career due to a wrist injury. The way some of the other guys struggled they may want to consider a similar strategy.

The UA had a total of six runs in the first 23 innings of the series. You hope the seven-run outpouring over the final three innings was the faucet turning on and the start of things flowing the way they should.

“We’ve got some real good hitters on the team,” Arizona pitcher Konner Wade said. “They’re going to turn it around.”

I agree with him. Field and Refsnyder will anchor the middle of the lineup, Mejia will only get better when his wrist heals and leadoff man Joey Rickard had three walks to go with his three hits. Once the new starters in the bottom half of the order get comfortable I expect the team to look similar to the squad that collectively hit .320 last year.

I’m not as optimistic about the Wildcat bullpen.

Stephen Manthei looked good with two shutout innings on Friday but the next night Manthei combined with fellow juniors Vincent Littleman and Nick Cunningham to face eight batters in the 8th inning and give up six runs while only recording one out. This was the unit that held the Cats back last year and the 2012 edition didn’t do anything to show things will be different.

Lopez may have to look at his other options. He said, “Not a situation to panic but you get a couple chances when you’re a junior and if that doesn’t happen we’ve got to go to the next level. We’ve got some freshman arms and they may want to be out there more than some of the juniors right now.”

From a marketing standpoint the opening weekend was a big success. The fans were energized and involved (the groaning on borderline calls was in midseason form). There were grandparents, college students, couples and kids. From the music to the concessions to the between-inning promotions it was a lively atmosphere completely unlike the last few years at the on-campus stadium.

If you used to go to Toros games or watch spring training you need to give the college game a try at Hi Corbett Field. If you follow UA sports but never got into baseball there’s not going to be a better time than now to see if there is room in your fan life for the BatCats.

On the field? It wasn’t as sexy a start as 30 to 2 but there’s a long way to go before we find out if this team can improve on last year’s regional final. And if you’re building a baseball team, strong starting pitching and a couple red hot hitters in the heart of your lineup is a good foundation.

Baseball is back.

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Scott Terrell is happy to be back at the ballpark. Swing for the fences on Twitter and Facebook.