No one was going to stop Robert Refsnyder, not even his third-base coach.
Photo by Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team took the opening game of their series with Arizona State in dramatic fashion Friday night, winning 1-0 when Seth Mejias-Brean doubled in Robert Refsnyder with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Cats then got some help from their friends in Corvallis as Oregon State beat Oregon to move Arizona into a first-place tie with the Ducks with two games remaining in Pac-12 play.

Ace pitchers Kurt Heyer of Arizona and Sun Devil Brady Rodgers matched zeros for eight innings. ASU made solid contact against Heyer early but the junior right-hander was able to strand five runners in scoring position in the first five frames.

“(ASU) hit a couple balls right on the screws, right at people,” Arizona coach Andy Lopez said. “(Heyer is) like an infielder that makes an error but they don’t ever score when he makes the error.”

“We just made really great defensive plays,” said Heyer. “We did all the little things very well and that’s what got us the win.”

One of those little things was taking advantage of a big ballpark. After Refsnyder’s one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, ASU head coach Tim Esmay brought in his closer, hard-throwing Jake Barrett. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound righty threw just two pitches as Mejias-Brean lined an 0-1 offering into the left field corner.

As Refsnyer approached third, UA base coach Matt Siegel tried to hold him up but the junior ran through the stop sign. The relay throw was up the first-base line and Refsnyder slid in with the winning run.

“As soon as I saw it past the third baseman I knew I was going to score,” Refsnyder said. “I’m sure Siegel would’ve killed me if I got thrown out.”

Lopez said, “If he’s safe it’s a good move.”

Give Hi Corbett Field an assist. In a smaller park the ball doesn’t roll as far and ASU shortstop Deven Marraro might not be as rushed and maybe Refsnyder feels the wrath of his coach.

Lopez said his players’ familiarity with their home field was a factor. “I think they’re really comfortable in the yard now. They have a good feel for what they’re doing.”

If you drew up the perfect fan-friendly college baseball game, this would be it. Premium starting pitching, solid defensive plays, action on the bases, the home team winning on the final play and post-game fireworks. All in a crisp two hours and 14 minutes. Cheer your team on to a thrilling victory and still get the kids to bed on time.

The Cats are now back to controlling their destiny in the race for the program’s first Pac-12 championship since 1992. After losing the head-to-head series with Oregon, the UA can’t ask for anything more. The challenge now is avoiding a letdown and duplicating this performance against a rival with just two games left in its season.

Refsnyder expects the Sun Devils to rebound on Saturday. “They’ve been the cream of the crop,” he said. “They’ve really set the standard for collegiate baseball.”

“They know how to bounce back. They know how to win games.”

Konner Wade takes the ball for Arizona and the sophomore will be matched up against Trevor Williams who, statistically, has been ASU’s best pitcher.

“Hopefully Wade sets the tempo early, throwing strikes,” Refsnyder said.

The bar has definitely been raised for UA hurlers. In the last two games against ASU, Wildcat pitchers have kept the Sun Devils from scoring in 17 of 18 innings.

The Cats got help in the Pac-12 race Friday night but not on the NCAA regional front. Cal State Fullerton continued to apply pressure by posting a 4-0 victory in its series opener at Long Beach State. Arizona may have had fireworks but the Wildcats haven’t crossed the finish line.

“We have a lot of work to do for the rest of the series,” Heyer said, “but right now we feel like we just won the World Series. It feels amazing.”

“We just have to put this one behind us, come back tomorrow and battle again.”

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Scott Terrell will continue with game updates on all key series all weekend via Twitter with UA/ASU recaps on Facebook.

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.

Friday was the stuff of which dream seasons are made. After five UA errors led to five unearned runs the Wildcats trailed 7-4 before a shocking four-run rally in the bottom of the 9th. The final three tallies came around on Bobby Brown’s bases-loaded single with the help of a Jake Stewart error in center field allowing the only unearned run charged to Stanford all night.

That’s the beauty of baseball. At some point in a basketball game it becomes humanly impossible for the losing team to score enough points in the time remaining to come from behind. In baseball, as long as you don’t make outs you can come back from being down infinity and score infinity plus one.

The Cats weren’t quite down infinity Friday night but the comeback sparked something equally hard to quantify.

Momentum, magic, mojo – whatever term you want to use, Arizona had a lot of it against the Cardinal. And it on Saturday and Sunday was dominant starting pitching.

Konner Wade and James Farris combined to throw two complete games, giving up nine hits, three earned runs and just one walk compared to 12 strikeouts. Both guys got sharper as the games went on as Wade shut out Stanford over the final three innings and Farris retired 14 in a row from the end of the 4th until one out in the 9th.

The blueprint for this team was clearly on display: strong starting pitching handing the ball directly to the back end of the bullpen (or nobody at all). When you need your relievers to face all of three batters in three games you’re in great shape.

The 2012 BatCats are built for weekend series when the best arms are available. There will be struggles in midweek games and any time one of the three horses is off his stride but the Pac-12 doesn’t play four-game series.

Everything is on the table now. A conference championship. The ideal scenario of finishing as a national seed and hosting tournament games up to the College World Series. It’s all achievable if the team continues pitching, hitting and sprinkling in the unquantifiable.

The fans in Tucson feel it. Over 10,000 came out to Hi Corbett Field in the series, the most Andy Lopez has seen during his coaching tenure at Arizona. Fan energy is another necessary ingredient when baking dream seasons.

“Really thankful for the crowds that came out the whole weekend,” Lopez said. “It feels great when you hear ‘U of A’ (chants) and two strikes/two outs people are clapping and on their feet.”

“The crowd’s awesome,” said Farris, Sunday’s pitching star. “We love playing in front of them. They’re loud, they’re energetic and that…motivates us to get a win for them.”

“(Stanford’s) coaching staff even mentioned (the crowds) to me,” Lopez added. “They said, ‘Wow, you’ve got a different deal going on here, coach.’”

Now is the moment when everybody says they can’t look ahead. This past weekend the Cats were in the national spotlight. This upcoming week takes the UA off college baseball’s beaten path with a trip to Utah.

“I told these guys on Tuesday if you sweep Stanford they don’t send you to Omaha on Monday,” Lopez said. “And if you lose three to Stanford they don’t turn this (field) into a Wal-Mart. You have a lot of baseball left.”

“You can always improve,” said outfielder Robert Refsnyder. “If you get complacent that’s when teams sneak up on you. It’s going to be a tough one. Utah has shown they can be competitive in the Pac.”

No, the coaches and players should not look ahead in any way shape or form. But the fans can. The next home series is just 11 days away and when UCLA comes to town the Bruins may have worked themselves up to the #2 ranking that Stanford just vacated.

When we say the next home games will be bigger than the last ones it might not just be a cliché. Arizona went 5-1 over the past two weeks and separated not an inch from UCLA. But before the Cats can try and beat the Bruins they have to keep pace with the Bruins.

“It’s tough not looking at ‘ranked #2’ but we really try and just go out every day and play every team the same,” Refsnyder said. “(The sweep) definitely puts a bulls-eye on our back but we’re going to handle it fine. We’re looking forward to every challenge.”

The list of potential challenges got a lot bigger after this sweep. The kind of challenges you dream about.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell wonders what dreams may come. That is the question on Twitter and Facebook.

Robert Refsnyder was a force stronger than the wind.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

The University of Arizona baseball team only needed one Pac-12 game to run into adversity but the Wildcats recovered to take the weekend series from Washington State.

After a solid midweek road split at top-10 Rice the Cats were ambushed by Washington State in the Pac-12 opener. The UA’s Kurt Heyer gave up a run in each of the first four innings while the league’s top-hitting team was held without an extra-base hit.

“(WSU) coach (Donnie) Marbut did a marvelous job getting those guys ready,” Arizona coach Andy Lopez said, “and we were not ready. Obviously that’s my fault. My responsibility.”

After Wazzu’s 6-0 victory things looked bleak for the home team and the weather wasn’t helping. With storms forecasted for Sunday the two teams were forced to play a doubleheader on Saturday, further threatening Arizona’s already-shaky bullpen.

If the Friday night loss wasn’t enough of a wakeup call for the Cats, WSU’s five-run first inning in Saturday’s early game did the trick. The UA outscored the Cougars 8-2 from that point to claim a one-run victory and even the series.

The key play came with one out in the top of the 7th. WSU’s Taylor Ard, second in the Pac-12 in home runs behind teammate Derek Jones, came to the plate with a man on and the Cougars looking to add to a 6-5 lead. Ard hit a fly ball down the right field line into foul territory and Wildcat junior Robert Refsnyder made a catch you have to see to believe.

In the winner-take-all third game the Cats used six hits and three WSU errors to score seven runs in the 5th en route to an 11-3 lead. Arizona held off a couple Wazzu rallies for a 12-9 win, a doubleheader sweep and a 2-1 series victory.

Refsnyder had three hits in each of Saturday’s games and third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean had five RBIs on the day. On the mound, Stephen Manthei picked up the win in both games out of the bullpen while Mathew Troupe closed out each victory.

It was a reminder that there are no easy outs on the Pac-12 schedule this year. Even Utah, who came into the weekend with a 4-11 record, swept a doubleheader at top-25 USC to win that series.

After a pair of midweek home games against New Mexico State the Cats travel to face Oregon State, the only Pac-12 team to record a three-game sweep on opening weekend. If that wasn’t tough enough, the following weekend is the showdown with Stanford, the #2 team in the nation.

The UA responded well to its first taste of Pac-12 adversity. The experience of winning a windy doubleheader should help this team battle back the next time it’s backed into a corner.

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Scott Terrell is happy to avoid the rain. Keep dry 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.

- – - – -

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

Robert Refsnyder will try to add to his league-leading 48 RBIs.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

TWIT-Pac loves when all Pac-10 teams play conference series at the same time, which means TWIT-Pac is fired up about the final two weeks of the regular season.

Can Oregon State hold off ASU? Will the Arizona Wildcats and Stanford play to three ties? Will UCLA finally put its pitching rotation in the right order?

Around the league we go…

#28.4 ARIZONA (32-17 / 11-10) at
#28.0 Stanford (28-18 / 10-11)
These two teams are one game apart in the standings, four apart in total wins, six apart in the RPI and just 0.4 apart in the average rankings. Now watch, the series will be three blowouts.

USC (20-28 / 10-11) at #5.0 OSU (37-12 / 16-5)
The Trojans have won four of their last five Pac-10 series. The Cats have to feel really good about sweeping USC.

#10.6 ASU (36-13 / 14-7) at Washington (15-32 / 5-16)
The Sun Devils need to take all three if they want to make one last run at Oregon State.

#29.2 Cal (29-16 / 12-9) at #24.2 UCLA (29-19 / 14-7)
UCLA needs the same sweep as ASU since the two teams currently tied for 2nd meet next week.

Oregon (28-24 / 7-14) at WSU (22-25 / 6-15)
Duck and Cougar fans are just hoping it doesn’t rain.

- – -

In case you missed it ASU just now had its appeal hearing. Since the Sun Devils are eligible for the postseason until a decision is made there’s no way they’ll be kept out of this year’s tournament. Heck, with the speed that the NCAA is handling USC’s football appeal, you might want to pencil in ASU on your 2012 baseball bracket as well.

Moving south on I-10, don’t look now but the Wildcats are the hottest team in the league. Arizona is 8-2 in its last 10 games which is better than UCLA and Stanford’s 7-3.

Officially, Andy Lopez is sticking with his normal pitching rotation of Kurt Heyer on Friday and Kyle Simon on Saturday. But you can’t blame him for contemplating a switch.

In his last four starts Simon is 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA and a 9-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. During the same span Heyer is 1-1 with a 4.61 ERA and only 3.5 K’s for every walk. Over the last month Heyer has become Garfunkel to Simon’s…well, Simon.

Of course, Lopez could take UCLA’s approach and keep the best pitcher in the Pac-10 (and the nation?) as his #2 guy while continuing to give the ball to a guy with a losing record on Fridays.

If the Cats are going to do anything in June both Heyer and Simon need to be at the top of their game. They were expected to be co-aces but the duo hasn’t earned wins in the same Pac-10 series all year. That’s a pretty good reason why this team is only one game above .500 in league play.

Konner Wade will be making his fourth straight start as the anchor in the rotation. Kurt, Kyle and Konner. You always want your starting pitchers to have a lot of K’s.

The Brothers K.

K Cubed.

The KK… Yikes. Do not use that one.

A quality start from each pitcher would be appreciated, no matter what you call them.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell better WHA. Help him watch his acronyms on Twitter and Facebook.

Joey Rickard has been sliding in the Pac-10 batting race.
Photo by Crystal Ochoa/The Arizona Republic

It wasn’t a surprise that the Arizona Wildcats baseball team swept Alcorn State. It wasn’t a surprise that none of the three games were close.

It was a surprise who contributed.

‘Tis a tale as old as sport. A lightly-used player finally gets his opportunity and makes this most of it.

Sport, meet Bobby Rinard.

The senior outfielder from Indiana by way of Yavapai Community College had started just two games all season. He got the call only because Bobby Brown was hurt, who had only been playing because Steve Selsky was hurt.

Rinard took the three weekend starts and went 8-for-12 (.667) at the plate with two doubles, three RBIs, five runs scored and a stolen base.

“Rinard’s done a good job,” UA coach Andy Lopez said. “I’m really happy with him. Good to see a guy who doesn’t play a lot get a chance and – boom – jump right in and take advantage of it.”

The right-handed hitter almost doubled his season at-bat total and bumped his batting average up to an even .500 for the year.

“You can’t really take time off in practice,” Rinard said. “You’ve got to prepare yourself like you’re going to (get a shot) and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Here are the other weekend shots from around the Pac-10:

OSU won two of three vs. Cal.
Scores: 3-0, 2-6, 4-2
The Beavers had to play a doubleheader on Saturday and ended up with a split. Oregon State’s lead over ASU is now down to a single game.

UCLA won all three at Oregon.
Scores: 7-1, 3-1, 4-0
The Bruins’ pitchers dominated to solidify their hold on 3rd place.

Stanford won all three vs. Washington.
Scores: 6-2, 8-7, 7-2
Mission accomplished for the up-and-down Cardinal who have now matched Arizona’s 9-9 Pac-10 record.

ARIZONA won all three vs. Alcorn State.
Scores: 10-2, 8-2, 15-2
The Braves were held to just a safety in each game.

ASU won all three vs. Long Beach State.
Scores: 6-3, 9-2, 17-9
It was no day at the beach for the Dirtbags.

WSU lost two of three vs. UNLV.
Scores: 1-4, 4-3, 3-6
The Cougars couldn’t maintain the momentum following their 9th-place showdown with Washington.

USC didn’t lose.
Sometimes the only way to win is to not play.

- – -

What this week’s polls think of the Pac-10:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

The Beavers moved up in one poll to #2, and down in another poll to #10. NCBW has six Pac-10 teams ranked; Perfect Game (the poll formerly known as Rivals) only has two. I have no idea either.

I do know a batting race when I see one. Arizona’s Joey Rickard had been leading the league in hitting for most of the year but Pac-10 pitching has been eroding his lofty average.

The Wildcat leadoff man was passed over the weekend by another Joey. ASU’s DeMichele (pronounced “DeMichael”) torched LBSU with a 9-for-14 (.643) showing including going 5-for-5 Saturday night. The top Sun Devil’s season average is now .406 while Rickard’s has dropped to .390.

Cats and Devils make up 7 of the 10 leading hitters in the Pac-10 with the UA’s Cole Frenzel (.379) 3rd, Bryce Ortega (.355) 6th and Robert Refsnyder (.344) 8th, while ASU’s Austin Barnes (.362) is 5th and Deven Marrero (.340) is 9th.

It’s 8 of 10 if you include Bobby Rinard.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell believes he hit a solid .328 with this article. Barrel up on Twitter and Facebook.

You’d better believe in the Beavers.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats are feeling a lot better about themselves after sweeping USC, but the biggest statement was made by Oregon State, the leaders of the Pac.

Here are the Pac-10 baseball results from last weekend:

OSU won two of three at UCLA.
Scores: 7-5, 2-0, 2-5
OSU didn’t just take care of business against UCLA, they did it in style. How do you beat the best pitcher in the Pac-10? You throw a no-hitter against him.

(Link to the game recap with video of the final inning.)

I’m going to guess the Pac-10 champs don’t often go hitless so cross off UCLA as a contender. That leaves Arizona State as the last remaining challenger to the Beavers.

ASU won two of three vs. Stanford.
Scores: 12-10, 4-6, 7-1
It wasn’t a sweep and that might not cut it in the quest to catch OSU. The Beavers finish with: Cal, at Washington, USC, at Oregon. The Sun Devils go: at USC, at Washington, UCLA. UCLA is better than Cal so ASU’s only advantage is having to play three fewer games. Oregon State and their two-loss lead look strong.

Cal won two of three vs. Oregon.
Scores: 2-1, 3-4, 5-4
How close is close? Three one-run games with two of them decided in the bottom of the 9th.

ARIZONA won all three vs. USC.
Scores: 4-3 (10 inn.), 20-4, 8-5
When you’re the only team to sweep you gain ground on everybody. The Cats went from 7th place to 5th place and are now just a couple games out of 3rd. The UA is also back to having the third-highest win total in the Pac-10 with 27 (OSU and ASU have 32 wins apiece).

WSU won two of three vs. Washington.
Scores: 5-2, 11-6, 5-6
These are the two worst teams in the league but the Huskies are a little worser.

- – -

rankings:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Only three Pac-10 teams are found in every poll, a season low.

The UCLA enigma, however, has reached a new high. The Bruins’ range stretches from #13 in one poll to completely unranked in two others.

For Arizona, with Steve Selsky hurt and Jett Bandy still below .300 the Cats have been dying for some production out of the middle of their lineup. Robert Refsnyder – .455 average with a double, triple, 2 home runs and 8 RBIs against USC – might be the answer.

The only answer to extending the good feelings is to keep winning.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell has a firm grasp of the obvious. Learn more of what you already know on Twitter and Facebook.

The Cats had to hang up their high-fives for the year.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team saw its season end with two losses in three games at the Fort Worth Regional in the 2010 NCAA tournament.

The weekend got off to a good – albeit uncomfortable – start. The Wildcats built a 10-4 lead against Baylor in Friday’s game before the Bears stormed back with five runs in the bottom of the 9th to put a real scare into the guys from Tucson.

Saturday’s game was against host TCU and its 1st-round pitcher Matt Purke. The Cats fell behind early as Kyle Simon gave up six runs in 3.2 innings and the UA never got closer than three runs.

That set up a do-or-die rematch with Baylor and the Wildcats did not do. The Bears took the lead for good in the 8th thanks to a hit-by-pitch, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, error and sacrifice fly.

You would have liked to see Arizona get another crack at the regional’s top seed but that didn’t help Baylor any as BU was promptly shut out, 9-0, and eliminated by TCU.

Shortstop Alex Mejia was the UA’s best hitter in Fort Worth, batting .636, but that’s not a surprise since he was the team’s hottest hitter for the last part of the year. The surprise is that he stayed in the 9th spot in the batting order the entire time.

The college baseball season is too short to ignore hot streaks or ride out slumps. If a guy’s on a roll you have to get him to the plate as many times as possible. Mejia produced eight runs in the regional. How many more would he have put on the board if he was hitting before or after Josh Garcia?

Garcia was the out-of-nowhere batting star with five hits and two home runs in the three games. The junior is the big what-if for the season. He played the whole year with a tear in his knee and never could get things going. His slugging display in Fort Worth (including a shot against Purke) gave him three homers in just 12 starts. It’s easy to extrapolate that into some nice power numbers over a full season.

The surprise pitching star in the regional was Tyler Hale. Coach Andy Lopez played a hunch and gave the freshman his first career start in the Baylor rematch. Hale responded by going seven full innings allowing just three hits and two runs. Perhaps Hale as a starting pitcher is the second big what-if for the season.

So 2010 comes to a close for the BatCats. The obvious highlight was the 15-game winning streak, but the absolute best stretch was a 12-day span in mid-April. The Cats took two of three at Washington for its first (and only) road series win. The following weekend featured the four-run 9th inning rally to complete the sweep against Washington State. To top it off you had the 4-2 Tuesday night win at ASU, the Devils’ only non-conference loss of the year.

It’s usually hard to identify the turning point in a team’s season, but with this squad you can pinpoint the exact moment when things went south. In the very next game after the ASU win Arizona held a 2-1 lead with two outs in the 9th against UCLA. Third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean misplayed a ground ball to allow the tying run to score. The Bruins scored four runs in the top of the 10th inning and the Wildcats proceeded to lose 15 of their 22 games.

I’m not saying one play by one kid torpedoed the season but this group of young guys really fed off each other. If things started going well they quickly built momentum. But when they hit a bump in the road they spun out of control like a teenager trying to show off in his dad’s car.

Field that grounder and you probably win the series. Beat UCLA and maybe the confidence helps you blow through the USC and Bakersfield series. Does that then turn around the 4-2 score in the final game of the ASU series for some serious momentum? Add one more to the what-if column.

Even though the team finished the season in a steady back-peddle, the bottom line is the year was a success. The goal in February was to make the tournament. Mission accomplished.

As an added bonus the team competed in Fort Worth and came away with some valuable experience. In practice you can’t mimic the pressure of close games in June. You don’t know what it’s like trying to choke off a 9th inning rally until you’re out there sweating on the mound. You don’t know what it’s like to hit representing the tying run in the 8th inning until you’re standing in that batter’s box.

The experience of this weekend – and the reality of coming up short – will serve the Wildcats well as they move into 2011.

At the top of the offseason wish list is getting Steve Selsky to come back to school. Since he turns 21 in July the sophomore is eligible for this year’s draft. Selsky led the team in batting average, home runs, RBIs, runs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage (the sextuple crown?). Considering he could be drafted again as a junior and still maintain negotiating leverage there’s a chance Selsky returns to spend another season anchoring the middle of Arizona’s lineup and gunning people down from right field. He is easily the Cats’ biggest recruit for 2011.

After that the key to next year will be the development of this year’s very active freshman class. Can guys like Robert Refsnyder, Joey Rickard and Mejias-Brean draw more walks to keep runners on the bath paths? Can the team cut down on errors (3rd most in the Pac-10) and unearned runs (71 total)?

On the mound can Kurt Heyer make the jump from Very Good to Elite? Will a legitimate closer finally step forward? Is there a quality third (and fourth) starter in the group? We saw flashes from Nick Cunningham, Stephen Manthei, Vincent Littleman and – as of Sunday – Tyler Hale. Who is going to put it together for a breakout sophomore campaign?

2010 was much better than 2009 for Arizona Baseball and the raw materials are there for a bigger step forward in 2011.

Now’s the time for the Cats to step on the gas.

The Arizona State Sun Devils scored the final seven runs of the game to turn a close contest in a 12-4 blowout victory over Arizona on Saturday night in Tucson.

ASU scored in six consecutive innings, putting up multiple runs in five of the frames. “It got away from us,” Wildcat coach Andy Lopez said. “It turned a pretty good ballgame into a slugfest and that’s not good.”

The game changed in the top of the 6th inning when Arizona ace Kurt Heyer walked his second batter of the inning with two outs. Heyer was lifted in favor of left-hander Bryce Bandilla who promptly gave up a two-run double to Austin Barnes.

“That was a back-breaker,” Lopez said.

The Cats kept it close for five innings. Rafael Valenzuela brought the home team within one when he smacked his fourth home run of the season to right-center field. Later in the inning Steve Selsky tripled and Cole Frenzel walked to put runners on the corners but ASU starter Seth Blair struck out Robert Refsnyder on a pitch in the dirt to end the rally.

The Devils responded with the big two-out hit in the 6th inning and their lead wasn’t threatened again.

“We needed a little bit of a performance out of our pen and we didn’t get it,” Lopez said. “We paid for it tonight.”

Game two of the series is 6 p.m. on Sunday. Arizona’s Kyle Simon (7-4) will face ASU’s Merrill Kelly (9-0) on the mound.

Just how open is this conference race?

ASU & UCLA? The sign says it all.
Photo by Deirdre Hamill/The Arizona Republic

ASU’s stumble raised the eyebrows and hopes of a number of teams in the rest of the league. With Cal staying sweep-happy do we now have a four-team race in the Pac-10? Or are the Bears and Beavers just fooling themselves while we wait for the mammoth ASU/UCLA showdown in two weeks?

And what about a young Arizona team returning to the stadium where it holds a 20-5 record?

Oregon (21-11 / 4-5) at UCLA (26-3 / 4-2)
The Bruins’ two wins at OSU last week earned UCLA a #1 ranking in a couple of polls. Oregon’s two wins at Stanford earned the Ducks their first Pac-10 series victory since their baseball resurrection.

Stanford (15-13 / 4-5) at OSU (20-8 / 3-3)
If the Cardinal wants to be included among the good half of the Pac-10 they need to make a statement this weekend. If the Beavers want to maintain contact with the front runners they can’t afford to lose another series at home.

USC (15-17 / 2-7) at ASU (28-3 / 6-3)
The Sun Devils have already clinched a winning overall record. There’s no way they lose at home to the last-place Trojans…right?

Washington (18-13 / 3-3) at Cal (20-10 / 6-3)
As we disused last time Cal needs to bank more wins this weekend because it looks like a schedule recession is coming.

WSU (19-11 / 3-3) at ARIZONA (23-9)
The Cats are feeling a lot better about themselves after a three-out-of-four road trip. The Cougars are downright giddy after taking a series from ASU for the first time ever, ever, ever.

The stretch drive starts right now for the Wildcats. Of the next 20 games the only ones away from home are a three-game set at struggling USC and two single-game non-conference tilts at ASU.

After righting the ship at Washington and Gonzaga the UA has a very real shot at getting into the NCAA tournament, but to get there the Cats can’t waste winnable home games. You also don’t want to lose games to fellow bubble teams and WSU would certainly qualify. In fact, every Pac team except USC is still holding out hope it can win enough games to earn an invite to the Big Baseball Dance.

Last weekend Kurt Heyer showed no ill effects from the head shot at Cal. Kyle Simon pitched the game of his life on Sunday. The middle-of-the-lineup trio of Jett Bandy, Steve Selsky and Robert Refsnyder are all hitting .400 with an OPS of 1.000 or better. Arizona’s best players look primed to lead the team on another hot streak.

But then you go back to the freshman thing. Did the young Cats get out all the jitters in Berkeley? Or is there a wall around the corner?

No one ever said growing up in the Pac-10 was easy.