Arizona first baseman Joseph Maggi reacts after the game-ending double play. Photo by David Kadlubowski/azcentral sports

By Jeff Metcalfe
azcentral sports

Mighty Casey or Nathaniel Causey. Eventually, baseball humbles everyone.

A week after his two-out, ninth-inning grand slam to win a game, Arizona State’s Causey hit into a game-ending double play Sunday as rival Arizona escaped with a 7-6 win at Packard Stadium.

Defending national champion UA (31-21, 12-15 Pac-12) kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive by winning the series and, depending on who’s scoring, clinched the school’s fourth overall Territorial Cup Series title. The Wildcats won three of five baseball games over the Sun Devils this season.

Arizona leads 9.5 points to 8.5 in the series by rules put in place for the first three years, when State Farm was the Territorial Cup title sponsor. ASU now counts men’s indoor track and says the series is tied at 9.5 apiece. The first tiebreaker is Directors’ Cup standings, with UA currently holding a 125-point edge over ASU.

What hurts more for No. 15 ASU (34-17-1, 15-12) is that its chances of hosting a NCAA regional are slipping away, if not already gone. The Sun Devils have four games remaining: at home Tuesday against BYU (30-19) and an away series against Washington (22-31, 13-14).

“It’s frustrating and disappointing,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said of not scoring in the eighth or ninth with the bases loaded. “It’s unfortunate. Obviously, this doesn’t help us (for hosting). We’ll see how that plays out. Obviously, we’ve got to play good this week.”

UA’s Brandon Dixon drove in what proved to be the winning run with a two-out single to left center in the top of the eighth.

Tyler Crawford (6-2) walked ASU’s Max Rossiter leading off the eighth and sent him to second on a wild pitch. Causey popped out and Trever Allen grounded out to the right side before reliever Mathew Troupe walked two in a row. Jake Peevyhouse slammed his helmet after a grounder to first baseman Joseph Maggi, who made a throw in time to pitcher Augie Bill.

Bill was in trouble from the start in the ninth. Kasey Coffman led off with a single and Michael Benjamin beat out a bunt when Bill hesitated on the throw. James McDonald also bunted but down the first-base line, giving Maggi time to throw out the lead runner at third. Rossiter walked, loading the bases, then on a 0-1 pitch, Causey grounded to a surprised Bill, who threw home for a force with the relay to first ending the closest Territorial Cup Series yet.

UA won the series 12.5-5.5 in 2011-12, 11.5-6.5 in 2010-11 and 10.5-7.5 in 2009-10.

ASU led 4-2, trailed 5-4 and led 6-5 before the Wildcats scored the final two runs. UA left fielder Cody Ramer made a diving catch to save a run in the fourth, and Crawford limited the Sun Devils to one hit from the fifth through seventh innings.

ASU shortstop Drew Stankiewicz committed two errors for four in the series.

This trophy will be staying in Tucson. Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics.

The Territorial Cup Series, competed over eight months and 18 sports, came down to one pitch on Sunday afternoon.

Arizona Wildcats left-hander Augey Bill, with one out and the bases loaded, protecting a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the ninth, fired an 0-1 pitch to Arizona State’s Nate Causey.

Causey hit a grounder back to Bill, who threw home for a force out, and then catcher Riley Moore tossed to first baseman Joseph Maggi for the third out.

With that, the Cats won the three-game series in Tempe and took the season series from the Devils, 3-2, including two non-conference games in Tucson.

And, just as importantly, if not more so, for the entire athletic department, Arizona won the deciding point in the Territorial Cup Series, taking the season-long all-sport competition 9.5 to 8.5.

Arizona has won the Territorial Cup Series in each of the four seasons of its existence.

(Jeff Metcalfe of the Arizona Republic wrote the schools are in dispute over whether men’s indoor track should count in the series, which would give ASU another point. It probably doesn’t matter. The Wildcats have a significant edge in the tiebreaker — a higher finish in the national Director’s Cup, which is an all-sport ranking based on how teams fare in the postseason.)

As a refresher, here is how the Territorial Cup Series works:

–If Arizona and Arizona State play once (football, for example), the winner gets a point.

–For basketball and volleyball, each meeting is worth a half-point.

–For swimming and diving, cross country, golf, and track and field, the team that finishes higher at the Pac-12 championship earns one point.

–For baseball and softball, one point is given to the winner of the entire season series, including non-conference games.

Arizona won 12.5 to 5.5 last season.

Here is a look at how Arizona and Arizona State fared against each other in each of 18 sports this season, with links to game stories or the final results:

Arizona designated hitter Jordan Berger slides back safe to first base as ASU first baseman Dalton Dinatale tries to apply the tag. Photo by Aaron Lavinsky/azcentral sports

By Jeff Metcalfe
azcentral sports

TEMPE — The defending national champion Arizona baseball team showed up Friday night at Packard Stadium, more so than the struggling Wildcats who dropped six of their preceding seven games.

Playing for its postseason life, UA broke on top 9-0 in the first 2 1/2 innings against No. 15 Arizona State then hung on to win 10-7 behind junior right-hander Konner Wade.

Wade (5-6) of Scottsdale was back as the Game 1 weekend starter after being dropped to the No. 2 spot last week. He pitched close enough to his 2012 postseason form (4-0, 1.29 ERA) to prevent ASU from completing the kind of comeback it managed Wednesday in rallying from five runs down to beat Texas Tech 8-5.

But it took a diving catch in deep center by Johnny Field to preserve the victory. Nathaniel Causey drilled a 2-2 pitch by Matthew Troupe with the bases loaded that Field pulled in at the warning track to prevent the tying runs from scoring.

ASU also brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the ninth but failed to score off Tyler Crawford, who picked up his first save.

“We gave it our all, but down 9-0 in the third inning, that’s tough,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said. “We still gave ourselves a chance. Johnny Field made the play of the game. That’s a hell of a catch. The kid laid out, that ball was smoked. He’s proven to be one of the best players in the conference, and he stepped up and made a great play.

“Credit to our offense. They had some at-bats late that mattered instead of letting it get away. And they used four guys out of the bullpen. When you’re up 9-0, you don’t expect to do that. Credit to us to force that issue. We could have went away and said it’s not our day and let Konner Wade get a complete game, but we didn’t let that happen.”

The Sun Devils’ chances of hosting an NCAA regional took a hit as they fell to 33-16-1 overall and 14-11 Pac-12. UA improved to 30-20 and 11-14 and takes a 2-1 lead in the rivalry series with games remaining at 6:30 Saturday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

ASU freshman lefty Ryan Kellogg (10-0, 3.36) looks to bounce back from two consecutive shaky outings in Game 2. James Farris (4-5, 4.20) will start for UA.

ASU shortstop Drew Stankiewicz committed errors in the first and second innings when four of the Wildcats’ runs off Trevor Williams (5-6) were unearned. The Sun Devils had four errors total with their defense costing them like it did in a 10-9 non-conference loss at UA on April 16.

In the first, Stankiewicz failed to come up with a Riley Moore grounder near second base, an error that allowed Trent Gilbert to score from second. Stankiewicz then had trouble handling Kevin Newman’s grounder and had to go to first instead of starting a double play with Brandon Dixon scoring for 2-0.

With one out in the second, Stankiewicz dropped a liner by Field, allowing UA to load the bases. Four consecutive hits followed including Dixon’s bases-clearing double into the left-field corner. The Wildcats added another run in the third for 9-0 before ASU put some life back into a season-high crowd of 4,105.

Michael Benjamin lofted his eighth homer of the season to left in the bottom of the third with Jake Peevyhouse aboard. A one-out fielding error by UA shortstop Newman led to two unearned runs in the fourth after RBI singles by Peevyhouse and Kasey Coffman.

Williams, forced too often this season to eat up innings while behind, held the Wildcats scoreless in the fourth and fifth and gave up an RBI single to Jordan Berger in the sixth before exiting after 115 pitches.

Wade walked Allen leading off the ASU eighth after a Stankiewicz single and 122 pitches was pulled for reliever Augie Bill. Allen scored on a fielder’s choice then Bill hit Coffman. Tyger Talley came in to pitch, giving up RBI singles to Benjamin and James McDonald. Troupe, who took over after Talley failed to get any outs, walked Max Rossiter before escaping thanks to Field’s circus catch.

Darin Gillies pitched 1 1/3 innings after Williams followed by Matt Dunbar.

ASU football coach Todd Graham threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The Arizona Wildcats will have a second Griffey on campus next year.

Trey Griffey, the son of future major-league Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., is a promising redshirt freshman wide receiver for Arizona. Junior was seen at some Arizona practices this spring.

He’ll have even more reason to be in Tucson, as his daughter, Taryn Griffey, committed to play basketball this week for the Wildcats, a big recruiting coup for Niya Butts, who recently completed her fifth season at Arizona.

Griffey (5-7) missed her junior season at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando because of an ACL injury but is rated the 12th-best point guard in the 2014 class by ESPN.com.

“My family was pretty shocked,” Taryn Griffey told the Bright House Sports Network in Orlando this week about her commitment.

“I hadn’t said anything because I didn’t really know what I was thinking. My brother is here and my dad and him were high fiving. My brother being out there had some influence on it, but I really like the coach and I really like the atmosphere out there. …

“One thing I really wanted to do ever since I was younger was make a name for myself and for a program, like how Skylar Diggins made her name at Notre Dame and Brittany Griner made her name at Baylor.”

Griffey went 9-for-9 from 3-point range in one game as a sophomore, and she excelled in the state tournament that season, with 39 points and 32 rebounds in the final two games. Wrote ESPN.com last summer: “May well be the poster child for speed and quickness.”

Arizona already has had success with the daughter of a former All-Star major-league outfielder. Davellyn Whyte, the daughter of Devon White, finished her career last season as one of the best players in program history. She was selected 16th overall in the WNBA draft.

The Cats finished 12-18, though, and are still looking for a breakthrough under Butts. A commitment from Griffey should help.

Mike Candrea’s team failed to get a timely hit vs. Baylor. 2011 photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona Wildcats softball team will have to try to win an NCAA regional the hard way.

Arizona dropped its opening game of a double-elimination regional Friday afternoon, falling 7-0 to Baylor, and will have to win four games in two days to advance to a Super Regional.

The Cats take on Penn at 2:30 p.m. Tucson time Saturday in an elimination game to be telecast by ESPN. The winner will face the loser an earlier game between Baylor and host Texas A&M. That game, scheduled for 5 p.m., will be shown on ESPNEWS.

A&M defeated Penn 12-0 on Friday.

Junior pitcher Shelby Babcock, who had been suffering from illness earlier in the week, got the start against Baylor, but failed to record an out, walking the first three batters and allowing four runs.

“Babs wanted the ball and we gave it to her, but she just couldn’t execute,” coach Mike Candrea said in the postgame press conference. “You have three walks and you’re down 4-0. That really changed the complexion of the game.”

Arizona missed a chance to answer in the top of the second inning. The Wildcats loaded the bases against Whitney Canion with one out, but two ground ball outs ended the threat without a run.

“When you have opportunities like that, especially against somebody like Whitney — because you know you’re not going to get many of them — that can really change the game if you can get a couple of base hits. You can get in her head a little bit,” Candrea said.

“But for them to get out of the inning it was really disheartening. We had one out and bases loaded and our next two hitters swung at the first pitch and didn’t show enough patience to maybe let her work herself into a jam.”

From there, Canion was dominant. The left-hander allowed six hits, striking out seven and walking none, in the shutout.

Arizona used all three of its pitchers, with Nancy Bowling pitching five innings of relief and Estela Pinion coming in for one inning, and will need a huge effort from the trio if the Cats are to survive the regional in College Station, Texas.

“You can’t think about four,” Candrea said of the potential path of games over the next two days.

“You’d better think about one. It’s kind of new territory for us. It’s like I told the girls, ‘How do you climb a mountain? One step at a time.’”

Shelby Babcock has struck out 130 batters in 169 1/3 innings this season. Photo by Andy Morales, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats softball coach Mike Candrea has been feeling as good about his team as he has all season … and then came the phone call at 1:30 Sunday morning.

His No. 1 pitcher, junior Shelby Babcock, was being taken to the hospital for an illness that the school wasn’t able to disclose early Monday afternoon. By that time, she had returned home and was resting.

It was not immediately known if Babcock would be available when Arizona begins play at an NCAA regional in College Station, Texas, on Friday. The Wildcats open the four-team, double-elimination event against Baylor at 12:30 p.m. Tucson time on ESPN2.

Arizona’s rotation could be down to freshman Nancy Bowling and junior college transfer Estela Pinion, neither of whom have pitched in the postseason.

“It can be a positive, too,” Candrea said. “Sometimes you can over-think the game when you’ve been there too many times.”

Arizona’s pitching hasn’t been a strength this season, with senior Kenzie Fowler taking a redshirt season while recovering from back surgery. The Wildcats’ ERA of 3.80 was the second-worst in the nine-team Pac-12 during the regular season, and they gave up a league-high 69 home runs.

Arizona doesn’t have an ace who can go out and pitch a seven-inning shutout. This is more of hang-in-there pitching staff that needs to keep the score close to give the bats a chance to win.

Candrea has had to mix-and-match his three-pitcher staff, commending Pinion for embracing her recent role as a reliever who gives the opponents a different look.

Babcock (16-10) has been the main pitcher, though, with a 3.68 ERA to go with her team-highs in appearances (34), starts (24) and innings (169 1/3).

Candrea said he might know Babcock’s status by Wednesday afternoon. She last pitched Thursday at Stanford, allowing two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings before Pinion picked up the win in relief as Arizona rallied for 5-3 victory.

Babcock was ill for the next two days of the road trip, but appeared to be feeling better, before the early-morning trip to the hospital.

Bowling (4-6, 4.25 ERA) would be the likely starter in Babcock’s absence.

“I think she’s gotten over the hump a little bit and has more confidence in herself,” Candrea said.

“It would be nice to have Babs healthy, because it does give us that additional depth that you need. But you have to go out and do what you need to do.”

Mike Candrea’s program has reached the NCAA Tournament every year since 1987. Photo by Andy Morales, TucsonCitizen.com

The Arizona Wildcats softball team, which finished with its best stretch in an otherwise difficult season, will begin its postseason run in College Station, Texas.

Arizona (32-24 overall, 9-15 Pac-12) will open the NCAA Tournament against Baylor at 12:30 p.m. Tucson time Friday on ESPN in a regional hosted by Texas A&M, the 16th overall seed in the tourney.

It’s time to reset all the numbers.

“Zero-zero,” UA coach Mike Candrea said of his message to his team.

“It’s a new season. A big factor is this team has played nice and loose and relaxed, and they’ve gained confidence they can come back. They don’t hit the panic button. If we can keep them in the same mindset, we’ve got a chance.”

The winner of Texas A&M regional advances to play the winner of the regional hosted by the tournament’s overall No. 1 team, Oklahoma. The Sooners have become a recent nemesis, eliminating Arizona in each of the past two tournaments.

But this hasn’t been the kind of Arizona season in which the Wildcats can look too far down the postseason path.

First up is Baylor, which finished the regular season at 39-15 and features standout left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion (23.7, 1.62 ERA). Texas A&M will open Friday against Penn following the Arizona-Baylor game. UA hasn’t faced any of the other three teams in the regional this season.

This is the first time Arizona hasn’t been the top seed in a regional since the NCAA went to a four-team, double-elimination format in 1994.

The Wildcats finished the season by winning two of three games against No. 3 Arizona State on their final homestand, and taking two of three at No. 13 Stanford this weekend to end the regular season.

“Right now, I feel pretty good,” Candrea said. “I feel we’re starting to put some pieces together and we’re playing the game with some confidence.”

This marks the third time in the past six seasons that Arizona won’t be a host for an NCAA regional.

Arizona advances to its 27 consecutive NCAA Tournament, a streak that dates to Candrea’s second season in charge of the program. He has directed UA to eight national championships, but the Cats have missed out on the College World Series in each of the past two seasons.

Brigetta Barrett celebrates with typical enthusiasm after setting the collegiate high jump record. Photo by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

It was only a matter of time.

Arizona senior Brigetta Barrett won a high jump silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics with a leap of 6 feet, 8 inches (2.03 meters). That didn’t count as the collegiate record, though, because it didn’t come during an NCAA competition.

Like I said, just a matter of time.

Barrett has been working her into peak form again, and she knocked down the collegiate record Saturday while going over the bar at 6-6.25 feet (1.99 meters) at the Pac-12 championships in Los Angeles.

“Last year I broke the collegiate record but since I did not do it in a collegiate meet, it didn’t count,” she said in press release from Arizona. “I felt I deserved it but I had to wait for God’s time.”

Barrett won her third consecutive Pac-12 high jump title, an almost certain precursor to a third consecutive NCAA championship. She is a three-time NCAA indoor champion.

The former college record was 6-6, held by UCLA’s Amy Acuff, SMU’s Kajsa Bergqvist and Texas’ Destinee Hooker. Acuff was one of Barrett’s Olympic teammates.

“Sorry, Amy Acuff,” Barrett said with a big smile in this video interview at Pac-12.com. “It was coming down. Time to pass the torch. Thanks for letting me have it.”

Elsewhere at the Pac-12 championships, Arizona junior Julie Labonté won her third conference title in the shot put with a toss of 57-0.25 (17.38m). Senior Jen Bergman won the 10,000-meter race (34:17.09). And junior Lawi Lalang won the men’s 10K in a time of 28:14.63. He has two conference titles at 1,500 meters and will compete in Sunday’s final in that event.

Brigetta Barrett clears 6-6.25 feet. Photo by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Photo from Arizona Athletics

The Arizona Wildcats football team unveiled their new uniforms Monday.

According to a press release:

Nike, Arizona’s long-standing apparel and footwear provider, partnered with the program to create a new look for the team. The updated jerseys feature ombre jersey numbers in the school’s traditional Cardinal, Navy and White. Nike has produced jerseys and pants in all three of those colors to suit various uniform combinations, complemented by Cardinal, Navy, White and Copper helmets.

The new uniforms can be seen during the 2013 Arizona Road Tour, which stops in Yuma on May 9, Sierra Vista on May 17 and Pinetop on May 23.

Last season, Arizona unveiled copper helmets for the first time (wearing them once, in a home loss to Oregon State in the fifth game of the season) and bringing back red helmets for the first time since 1980 (in the New Mexico Bowl win over Nevada).

The gradient numerals are new, as are the multi-colored sleeves, which no longer have a number on them. The stripe near the bottom of the pants is also gone. Take a look at all of 2012′s uniform combinations, as modeled by running back Ka’Deem Carey.

Coach Rich Rodriguez had promised “tweaks,” rather than a major overhaul, to Arizona’s uniforms. This seems to qualify in that regard. Arizona will be still recognizable as Arizona, just with a fresher look that should appeal to recruits. With a successful debut season, plus summer-ready new facilities and the new uniforms, Rodriguez has a lot to sell on the recruiting trail.

Here are some more of the new looks:

Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics.

Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics.

Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics.

This back-lit logo sits on the north face of the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

For most of his 14 years as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats, Dick Tomey worked out of a small, windowless office in McKale Center, his assistants cramped into even tinier spaces, some with low, slanted ceilings.

Second-year coach Rich Rodriguez is going to have a view of the Santa Catalina Mountains on the third floor of a football-only facility in the north end zone of Arizona Stadium, sitting amid spacious accommodations that very much look like the “game-changer” he says it will be for the program.

And, oh yeah, he has his own personal bathroom and shower.

The athletic department took the local media on a tour of the $72 million Lowell-Stevens Football Facility. It’s still a work in progress, but the team is on pace to move into the posh digs in July and officially join the college football arms race that had nearly lapped Arizona when Tomey was forced out in 2000.

“The amenities are very much going to modernize Arizona football,” said athletic director Greg Byrne.

“For so many years, that was an Achilles’ heel for us. It was an issue. Now, we’ll be able to look at all of our recruits and say, ‘You’ll be able to come here and have the same experience you would have at any place,’ and that’s on top of the other strengths we already have at Arizona.”

Let’s start at the bottom.

FIRST FLOOR
The main lobby, in the east end of the facility, will feature Arizona football tradition and heritage, including interactive videos. That area will look upon a weight room, which also will have a nutrition bar. Beyond that to the west is the equipment room, medical treatment room and the locker room. TVs will be prevalent throughout.

The locker room, featuring 120 wood lockers and 20 shower heads, is roughly round, allowing Rodriguez to stand at the front and have a good view of everyone.

This will be the Arizona locker room. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

The athletic department will accessorize the locker room by fitting a 4,000-pound back-lit “block A” logo in this round space above the entrance to the locker room. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

SECOND FLOOR
The second floor is a strip along the north side that will serve as the cardio area, looking out over the weight room (and TVs suspended from above).

Looking down into the weight room from the second floor. That’s the main lobby to the left. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

THIRD FLOOR
There will be plenty of activity on this level, the home of the coaches’ offices, a coaches’ conference room, a 120-seat auditorium for team meetings and a players’ lounge.

There is an academic area, but Byrne said the football players will still have to make the short walk to McKale Center for much of their academic services.

There also is a media room at the west end, where the team will conduct postgame interviews and, presumably, hold their weekly in-season news conferences, among other things.

The view from the north windows from Rich Rodriguez’s office. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

FOURTH FLOOR
This will be the home for the cafeteria and training tables, and the south end serves as a concourse that connects the east and west stands. In the middle, there is a breezeway, with restrooms and concession stands, which will help alleviate traffic to other areas of the stadium.

“And, as we all know,” Byrne said, “that’s an issue on game day for us.”

Most of the new end zone seating, featuring gray chair-backs — the UA chose gray because it won’t fade in the sun as badly as red or blue — are all below this level.

The back end of this floor, as well as the next, offer nice views of campus and the Catalinas.

This concourse connects the east and west stands. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

One of the new concession stand areas in the breezeway. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

From the back of the fourth level, looking down at Bear Down Field, which will be returned to university use in August after the facility is completed. Arizona will be covering the area with FieldTurf. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

FIFTH FLOOR
This is the Sands Level, names after Louis “Buzz” Sands, one of the major financial contributors to the facility.

Inside, there will be a large area for food and drink, and table top seating. Outside, there will be four-seat club boxes, protected from the weather by a long overhang. This should be high-demand seats for those seeking a more up-scale football experience.

“Sometimes, people are a little biased, saying, ‘I don’t want to sit in the end zone,’” Byrne said. “The views from these seats are great. You are going to be able to see to one end of the field very easily and still be very close to the field.”

The view of the field and videoboard from the Sands Level. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com