This was the 2012 team’s moment. Photo by Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

After the dogpile at the mound, after posing with the national championship trophy, after generally whooping it up, the Arizona baseball team gathered in the clubhouse at TD Ameritrade Park.

It was about an hour after the Wildcats had defeated South Carolina 4-1 to win the College World Series in Omaha. Coach Andy Lopez addressed the joyous group.

He recalled the conversation earlier this week …

“I said, ‘Hey, I’ve been fortunate. I’ve won two national championships. They’re great moments. They’re moments you’ll remember the rest of your life. Every time you hear of the 2012 season, it will ring, ‘Boy, we won it all that year.’

“But that’s what it is: A moment. It’s a moment. It’s not your identity; it’s not who you are as a human being. You’re a human being and you had a great moment. With that said, everybody has work to do to improve in everything that they do — being a good person, a good husband, a good brother, a good son, a better baseball player.”

Which brings us to 2013.

Arizona opens its season tonight at Hi Corbett Field, taking on Coppin State at 6 p.m. The athletic department will hold a pregame ceremony to honor the championship season, unveiling a banner on the outfield wall.

But Lopez isn’t much interested in talking about last season. That moment is gone. This team has to build toward another special moment after losing six regulars in the lineup and Friday night starter Kurt Heyer.

“None of those games that we won in Omaha are going to help us win games now,” said junior right-hander Konner Wade, who is the team’s new Friday night starter. “It’s a good memory, but we have to put it in the past.”

Wade (11-3, 3.96 ERA in 2012) will be backed by junior James Farris (7-3, 3.97) in the rotation. Junior Stephen Manthei, a bullpen stalwart last season, gets the first chance to nail down the role as the third starter.

Sophomore Mathew Troupe (6-1, 3.47, six saves) is throwing in the low 90s and returns as the closer.

“He has the makeup for it,” Lopez said.

“He’s a sharp guy. He’s about a 3.8 student, but he’s just goofy enough that when he messes up it doesn’t bother him. I like that. You need that in a closer.”

Kevin Newman has big shoes to fill at shortstop. Photo by V. Valdez Photography

Lopez likes to break down the season into 10-game increments and will be looking for someone to emerge as a reliable set-up man during that time. Other areas to work through early in the season are first base, left field and right field.

Joe Maggi and Brandon Dixon shared first base last season, but Dixon is now at third base and Maggi could be deployed to a corner outfield spot, depending on how the other dominoes fall. Lopez said he would prefer if junior college transfer Sam Parris or freshman Ryan Koziol lock down first base, but he could end up sticking with Maggi.

Sophomore Trent Gilbert returns at second base. The left side of the infield will be new with Dixon and freshman shortstop Kevin Newman. He replaces Alex Mejia, the Pac-12 Player of the Year and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

“Kevin Newman brings solid defense,” Lopez said. “Even though he’s a freshman, he’s very clean defensively.”

Johnny Field, who moves from left field to center, should lead the lineup after a sophomore season in which he hit a Pac-12-best .370. Freshman Scott Kingery will land at an open outfield spot or at designated hitter. Lopez wants him to hit leadoff.

After that, Lopez said the play is to hit Maggi second, followed by Field, catcher Riley Moore (a freshman All-American in 2012), Dixon and Gilbert. Newman will bat somewhere in the bottom third, joined by a couple of mystery guests early in the season.

“There are some new guys that have to get used to the speed of the game,” Lopez said. “I can’t do anything about that. I wish I could.”

With so much turnover in the lineup — and playing in another loaded Pac-12 — the Wildcats were picked to finish fifth in the league behind Stanford, UCLA, Oregon State and Oregon. Arizona is rated from 10th to 24th nationally among four major rankings.

And so it begins …

“I like getting the bugs out,” Lopez said of the season-opener.

“They’re tired of practicing, tired of intrasquads. They want to play. They need to play somebody and get all the bugs out.”

Brigetta Barrett celebrates winning the Olympic silver medal in the women’s high jump. Read on to see where that lands in the University of Arizona’s top sports stories of 2012. Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

We’re in the final week of the year, and no big news is expected out of the Arizona Wildcats.

The football team played in the first bowl game of the season and the men’s basketball team is off until Jan. 3 … so now is the time to look back at a rich 2012 for UA athletics.

The athletic department’s top storylines are a mix of season-long team success, postseason prowess, individual accomplishments and off-field news.

Here is what we came up with :

12. Sean Miller lands a point guard

Consider this the whopping of a topping on a talented recruiting class, rated among the top three in the nation. The dismissal of point guard Josiah Turner was addition by subtraction, but what coach Sean Miller needed was actual addition by addition to round out his 2012-13 team. He got that with Lyons, an immediately-eligible graduate transfer who originally had been recruited to Xavier by Miller. Lyons, who picked Arizona over Kentucky in early May, is still adjusting to a full-time point guard role, but he already has displayed his value with a game-winning drive vs. Florida and his go-ahead free throws late in the victory over San Diego State.

11. Excellence in the pool

First-year coach Eric Hansen had the Wildcats right back in their usual place among the national elite. The men’s team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, with national titles for Austen Thompson (400 individual medley), Kevin Cordes (100 breast), Cory Chitwood (200 back), diver Ben Grado and the 200 medley relay team. Chitwood won his third national title in the 200 back. The women’s team produced 11 All-Americans and was fifth nationally, its ninth consecutive top five finish at the NCAAs.

10. Mejia magic

With an infectious smile, a vacuum for a glove and what coach Andy Lopez called “intangibles that are off the charts,” junior shortstop Alex Mejia was selected the Pac-12 Player of the Year and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Mejia, who hit .357 for the national champs, became the first Wildcat to be the conference player of the year since Trevor Crowe in 2005. Mejia worked his way from lightly-recruited prospect to a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals. “He’s been everything and more than we ever asked for,” Lopez said in the spring. “I’m really happy for him and proud.”

Alex Mejia shares a light moment with an umpire during the championship series of the College World Series. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

9. Hello, Hi Corbett

The decision of athletic director Greg Byrne to move the baseball team off campus to Tucson’s venerable minor-league/spring training ballpark wasn’t met with his unanimous approval, but it worked out better than imagined. Arizona drew an average of 2,628 fans for 40 home dates — the third-best average in school history — and had 5,677 for a May 26 game against Arizona State. That was UA’s best single-game attendance in 32 years. The attendance and the improved facilities allowed Arizona to host postseason play for the first time since 1992.

“There is no way that we do what we did this year if we’re not at Hi Corbett with the atmosphere,” coach Andy Lopez said. “I’m so thankful that the community has come out and supported us.” For the first time in a long time, Arizona baseball is a destination.

8. Titles for Lalang

Sophomore Lawi Lalang had a record-setting season, winning NCAA indoor championships at 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. He set school records in both of those events, as well as the mile, establishing a college record for 5K. Lalang went on to win conference outdoor titles at 1,500 meters and 5K, earning first-team All-America honors in the latter. In the fall, he earned Pac-12 Male Athlete of the Year honors for cross country; Lalang had been 10-0 in cross country races in his UA career before finishing third in the NCAA Championships in November. Still, hardly any Arizona athlete had a better year than Lalang.

7. Foles breaks the ice

Arizona finally erased a stunning and unwelcome drought that saw a 39-year gap — to the day — that an ex-Wildcat quarterback threw a pass in the NFL. Nick Foles, a third-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, made his debut on Nov. 11, stepping in for an injured Michael Vick. He went on to make six starts before a broken hand forced him out of the season-finale. Foles completed 161 of 265 passes (60.8 percent) for 1,699 yards, with six touchdowns and five interceptions in his rookie season. Will Matt Scott follow him into the NFL in 2013?

6. Perfect, so far

This is an ongoing storyline, but the start of the 2012-13 season couldn’t have gone any better for the Arizona men’s basketball team. The Cats went 12-0 through the non-conference portion of their schedule, coming up with a pair of thrilling one-point victories in their two marquee games — vs. Florida and against San Diego State in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu on Christmas. At No. 3 in the AP poll, Arizona has its best ranking in nine years and has matched its best start to a season since the 1987-88 squad. It all sets the table of high expectations for the next three months (and possibly a little bit longer).

Nick Johnson celebrates a 3-point shot against Florida. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

5. RichRod’s first season

Eight victories, including a bowl win, in Rich Rodriguez’s first season? Just about everyone would have signed up for that before the 2012 season. Rodriguez fashioned a school-record-setting offense (526.15 yards per game) behind a no-huddle attack led by senior quarterback Matt Scott and All-American running back Ka’Deem Carey. A young, thin, banged-up defense merely held on most of the time, but it came up with key stops, too, as the Wildcats posted victories over Oklahoma State, Washington and preseason No. 1 USC, all teams that spent time in the national rankings. Given Rodriguez’s success on the field, his public relations off of it, and the new facilities to be completed in 2013, fans have ample reasons to be optimistic about the future of Arizona football.

4. 12-15-2012: Bear Down Saturday

What a day. Across two cities, two sports and about six hours on ESPN, Arizona pulled off two of the most thrilling feel-good comebacks in recent memory. First up, the football team in the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. The Wildcats were down 10, without timeouts, with about two minutes left … and Nevada had the ball inside the UA 10-yard line. Arizona held the Wolf Pack to a field goal, drove for a quick touchdown, recovered an on-side kick, scored another TD in three plays and then sealed the game with an interception for a 49-48 victory.

Later that night in Tucson, the Arizona basketball team was down six points to fifth-ranked Florida with just under a minute to go, but climbed back by forcing three turnovers in 16 seconds (and help from the Gators’ Kenny Boynton missing the front end of a one-and-one with 21 seconds to go). Mark Lyons drove to the basket for the game-winning shot with 7.1 seconds left as Arizona won 65-64.

Ka’Deem Carey is the first first-team All-American running back in school history. Photo by Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

3. Ka’Boom!

Running back Ka’Deem Carey was having a very nice season … and then the game against Colorado on Nov. 10 launched the sophomore into an entirely different stratosphere. He rushed for a Pac-12 record 366 yards that day (on only 25 carries), followed up with 204 yards at Utah and rushed for 172 yards in each of the final two games against Arizona State and Nevada.

Carey’s late surge gave him a school-record 1,929 rushing yards, a school-record 23 rushing touchdowns and made him the 11th consensus All-American in school history — the first to be chosen as an exclusively offensive player. With the bulk of bowl games to come, he has a comfortable lead as the nation’s leading rusher at 148.38 yards per game.

“Ka’Deem really, really loves football,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “The way he practices, the way he runs, the way he prepares, it’s just infectious. Every game is like a holiday to him.”

2. Precious medal

While her schoolmates were busy competing against the best in college, juniors Brigetta Barrett and Georganne Moline were taking on the best in the world. Barrett, the always-bubbly high jumper who won NCAA indoor and outdoor championships in 2011 and 2012, qualified for the U.S. Olympic team and then stunned the competition in London. She posted a personal best of 6-8 to earn silver, becoming the first U.S. athlete to win a medal in the women’s high jump in 24 years. She will be on the world stage for years to come (and look for her to sing the national anthem before the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale on Jan. 3). Moline, meanwhile, reached the Olympic final of the 400 hurdles in her first international competition, setting a personal record while finishing fifth.

1. Champs

Arizona was expected, as usual, to have a nice baseball team. But it all came together beautifully for coach Andy Lopez, including the energizing move to Hi Corbett Field (see No. 9 on this list).

The Wildcats won a share of the Pac-12 title for the first time in 20 years and then rolled through the postseason behind the indefatigable starting pitching of Kurt Heyer, Konner Wade and James Farris, the joy of shortstop Alex Mejia and a relentless lineup in which everyone contributed. Arizona won its three regional games by a score of 47-10, dispatched St. John’s in the super regional and then won the critical opening game of the College World Series 4-3 over Florida State in 12 innings. After that, Arizona allowed only five runs in the next four games, sweeping the best-of-three championship series against two-time defending champ South Carolina. It was Arizona’s first College World Series title since 1986 and the school’s 18th team championship.

Said coach Andy Lopez: “When your best players are your best human beings, it’s going to be a good year. It’s been a great year for us because my best players are my best human beings. … And that’s a real deadly combination when you suit up as a team.”

Head coach Andy Lopez and athletic director Greg Byrne celebrate with the NCAA baseball trophy. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Andy Lopez has been national coach of the year at three schools. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona baseball coach Andy Lopez, after leading the Wildcats to the national title earlier this week, has won national coach of the year honors from the Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

This is the third time he has won this award in his 30 seasons as a head coach, his first at Arizona. Collegiate Baseball previously tabbed Lopez with its top coaching honor in 1992 (when Lopez won the national title with Pepperdine) and in 1996, when he was the head coach at Florida.

Lopez is the second coach in NCAA history to win titles at two schools, joining Augie Garrido, who won with Cal State Fullerton (1979, 1984 and 1995) and Texas (2002 and 2005).

By guiding Arizona to its fourth championship at the College World Series, Lopez sets the record for most time elapsed between titles, breaking the mark of 11 years held by Garrido.

The Cats went 10-0 in the postseason, including a 5-0 mark at the World Series, when it swept South Carolina in two games in the championship series.

Lopez improved his career record to 1,090-664-7. He is 403-246-1 at Arizona.

Related:

Lopez: Let’s keep the fences at Hi Corbett right where they are

Hi Corbett felt like home for Arizona from this very first pitch of the season. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

The original plan for the Arizona Wildcats’ first season as a full-time tenant of Hi Corbett was to move in the outfield fences at the spacious former home of major-league spring training and Triple-A baseball.

Turns out, there wasn’t enough time to make that change, as the city wasn’t able to evict the stadium’s former tenant, the Tucson Toros, until reaching a settlement in late November.

While the university hurried to remake the clubhouse and offices, transplant the scoreboard and make cosmetic changes before the start of the season in February, the fences had to stay where they were for 2012.

Regarding the fences in 2013 …

“You know what?” coach Andy Lopez told TucsonCitizen.com after Arizona’s national championship celebration at McKale Center on Tuesday. “We need to keep them right where they’re at.”

The Wildcats had great success with their pitching plan (attack the strike zone; don’t fear the long ball) and hitting plan (short swings, shoot for the gaps) at Hi Corbett … and then those skills perfectly translated to TD Ameritrade Park, the second-year home of the College World Series.

The new park in Omaha isn’t quite as roomy as Hi Corbett, but it is big by college baseball standards and the wind is usually blowing in, requiring a huge poke to get the ball over the fence, especially to center (actually, there have been no homers to center in the two years the Series has been at TD Ameritrade).

“We walked in there and we were right at home, man,” Lopez said.

“I got the guys on the field after the first workout and said, ‘Fellas, we’re at home. Strikes are going to be rewarded, line drives in the gap are going to turn into doubles and triples, and no one is going to hit a home run.”

Well, Arizona’s Robert Refsnyder hit two, including an opposite field shot, and Bobby Brown hit one, but there were only 10 homes runs in 15 games at the College World Series.

Considering that Lopez hopes to be back at TD Ameritrade, he is fine with the big dimensions of Hi Corbett Field serving as a season-long primer to the College World Series, also providing a mostly unique home field advantage.

Hi Corbett’s fences are 360 feet away from home plate down the left-field line, 410 in left-center, 392 in center, 405 in right-center and 349 down the right-field line.

Arizona hit eight home runs in 1,403 home at-bats — one for every 175.4 at-bats. The Cats hit 13 home runs in 894 at-bats away from Hi Corbett — one in every 59.6 at-bats.

The Wildcats, relying on singles and that gap power, hit .329, the fourth-best mark in the nation.

Lopez did say he would like to see one change to those green fences.

“Dress them up a little bit because they look old, but, other than that, leave them right where they are,” he said. “That’s my vote.”

The Wildcats raise the trophy after beating South Carolina 4-1. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Andy Lopez has said he knew. He knew in the preseason that this team, his 11th at UA, could be special.

Arizona would have to stay healthy, of course. It would have to get into the right regional — meaning it would be nice to play at home in the postseason. The Cats would have to catch some breaks, do the right things at the right time like all championship teams must … but these guys had a chance.

And when it was all over, when the Wildcats had finished with a 10-0 record in the postseason, after they had never trailed at the College World Series, after the players doused Lopez with ice water during his ESPN interview, after a long on-field hug with his wife, Lopez found the perfect words to describe why he had that special feeling more than five months ago.

“When your best players are your best human beings, it’s going to be a good year,” Lopez said after Arizona beat South Carolina 4-1 in Omaha on Monday night.

“It’s been a great year for us because my best players are my best human beings. … And that’s a real deadly combination when you suit up as a team.”

Arizona and Lopez has been building for this moment for three years since the 2009 team departed, the squad that the coach often refers to as being filled with too many knuckleheads. It happens.

But Lopez replaced knuckleheads with bedrock — the current junior class on which this team is built. Shortstop Alex Mejia. Pitcher Kurt Heyer. Outfielder Robert Refsnyder. Outfielder Joey Rickard. Third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean.

“As soon as I stepped on campus, we started practicing, you could tell how frustrated he was with the last team,” Refsnyder said in the postgame press conference.

“And you could tell that he was fed up with baseball and trying to teach young people simple things — to go to class and study hall and take care of your business off the field. You could see the frustration. But Lopez gave us, gave myself and the junior class, the tools to how to be successful.”

They used those tools to hammer out one of the most magical months of Arizona baseball ever.

It started with Johnny Field’s walk-off single to beat Arizona State 8-7 in the regular-season finale, giving the Cats a share of their first conference title in 20 years. Arizona didn’t lose after that.

Amazingly, the Wildcats needed only five pitchers to get through the next 10 games, a remarkable stretch in which a starter delivered at least 7 1/3 innings each time. Sophomore James Farris pitched a marvelous 7 2/3 innings against South Carolina on Monday, allowing two hits and one run, vindicating Lopez’s decision to start him instead of Heyer on short rest.

Farris out-dueled the Gamecocks’ Michael Roth, whose work in the College World Series, including helping win national titles in 2010 and 2011, has made him an Omaha legend. Farris hadn’t pitched in a game since June 3.

“About three, four days ago in practice I pointed him out to the club, and I said it’s never about you,” Lopez said. “We talk about that a lot. It’s always about the program. It’s never about you as an individual. …

“And two or three days ago I pointed out Farris. I brought him in front of the group. And I said this guy’s been passed over twice in postseason and he’s ready to pitch and he’ll get a chance to pitch here before everything’s said and done. And he was pretty marvelous tonight.”

Arizona’s hitting, top to bottom, was consistent and clutch. Arizona hit .353 in the postseason, with every member of the lineup — which never changed — hitting over .300. No. 9 hitter Trent Gilbert drove in three runs Monday, including two on a ninth-inning single. The other RBI belonged to first baseman Brandon Dixon, a defensive replacement who delivered the go-ahead run in the ninth on a double.

“It was amazing to get that opportunity to help the team out,” Dixon said.

And then the defense. In the first game of the championship series, Refnsyder threw out a runner at third from right field. In the second game, Mejias-Brean made two stunning plays, including getting a force out at second on an attempted sac bunt in the eighth in a time game. Mejia seems to play with a Hoover, not a glove.

Starting pitching, clutch hitting and defense. That’s a pretty good team effort. What else is there?

Well, there’s that chemistry that the Cats had. Lopez said this team has “been a joy.” He frequently repeated in the past few weeks that he liked suiting up with these guys. Lopez repeats a lot of things, but that’s a two-way street. His players also were willing listeners.

One win at a time. Have a plan. Be excited to execute that plan. It’s not about you, it’s about the team.

On Monday, it was about a national championship — the fourth for the Arizona baseball program and the second for Lopez, his first coming with Pepperdine in 1992.

He has the facility he always wanted in Hi Corbett Field, the fan support he previously found lacking in Tucson, the second championship he always knew he was good enough to win. He has been frustrated at times at Arizona, tempted to leave, but his persistence has paid off.

At 58, might he just be getting truly started in Tucson?

“Coach Lopez means the world to us,” Refsnyder said. “We’re just so happy we brought joy back to his life in coaching.”

Everything is looking up for Andy Lopez and Arizona, which has won nine consecutive games. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Last April, the Cal baseball team arrived in Tucson to the news that its program, which was facing elimination by the university because of budget problems, has been reinstated, saved by a major fundraising effort.

That got a local reporter wondering about the (perceived) fragile state of the Arizona program.

“I will never forget it,” Wildcats coach Andy Lopez told TucsonCitizen.com last week.

“Cal showed up in our facility and they were being interviewed because of the news, and there was a local newscaster who asked me, “Are you worried that this might happen to you at Arizona?’

“That was last year.”

This is this year.

While Lopez will argue, with some passion, that his program was never anywhere close to being so down and out that it was in the same area code of the chopping block, there is no debate that the question was born out of a persistent lack of buzz about Arizona baseball, overshadowed in the past two decades by Mike Candrea’s eight-time national championship softball program.

But this spring (and now early summer) has belonged to the hardball.

Lopez and athletic director Greg Byrne combined forces to create the perfect June storm — an exciting move off campus to Hi Corbett Field; a talented, veteran team; a 138 percent increase in attendance; a chance to host postseason play for the first time in 20 years; a group of guys oozing with chemistry and getting hot at the right time.

Add it all up, and the Arizona Wildcats are going to be playing for their fourth national title, the last coming in 1986.

Arizona dusted Florida State on Thursday in Omaha, winning 10-3 to clinch a berth in the best-of-three championship series that begins Sunday. The Cats will play the winner of Friday’s elimination game between Arkansas and two-time defending national champion South Carolina.

UA has won nine consecutive games, eight of which have come in the postseason. Arizona has outscored its opponents 79-26 in the postseason.

As Florida State coach Mike Martin said in his postgame press conference, “They did not give us any room to breathe.”

Bobby Brown trots around the bases after his fourth-inning home run. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona used up plenty of oxygen running around the bases in the first inning, using four hits, two walks and three FSU errors to take a 6-0 lead. The Cats batted around again in the fourth, pushing the lead to 10-1 on the strength of home runs by Robert Refsynder and Bobby Brown.

Meanwhile, starting pitcher Kurt Heyer (13-2) motored along, lasting 7 1/3 innings. He has 13 consecutive starts — 13! — in which he has pitched at least 7 1/3. He’s 9-1 in those games.

Arizona is lined up to start sophomore Konner Wade in the first game of the championship series. Wade has thrown back-to-back complete-game victories over St. John’s and UCLA, walking none. Yeah, the Cats have The Look about them.

“I’m not sure we’re invincible,” Lopez said after Thursday’s game. “In fact, I’m quite confident we’re not invincible. We’re playing good baseball.”

That’s all he wants. That’s his simple, repetitive message to his players. Play good baseball. Play good baseball. Play good baseball.

Do that enough times, and a team might even become great.

Lopez has now taken an Arizona team further than he ever has in 11 seasons in Tucson. It’s no secret he has been up for other jobs over the years, probably could have taken a couple of them, as he grew skeptical that he had the tools — i.e., the facilities and support — to do his job to the fullest.

“I know my responsibility is to put a good product out there,” he said last week. “If I can be really, really crazy for one moment, I don’t think we’ve put a bad product out there.

“We’ve been to regionals a lot. And, then, on top of it, it wasn’t 0 and 2 and a barbeque. It was five regional championship games, tow super regionals, Omaha, big-leaguers.

“But I had to wonder, ‘Is it ever going to happen here? … Maybe those jobs that are being talked about are something I should think about.’”

At 58, Lopez is probably done thinking about that. He has his facilities. He has Tucson’s attention.

And he’s just two wins away from a national championship.

Yeah, it might be a good idea to keep Arizona baseball around for a while.

Coach Andy Lopez meets with pitcher Kurt Heyer during the sixth inning of the game against Florida State last Friday. Photo by Matt Ryerson-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats get three days off from games at the College World Series, leaving coach Andy Lopez with the most pleasant of decisions.

Does he come back with ace Kurt Heyer on Thursday?

By winning its first two games in Omaha, UA avoids the longer, tougher road of the losers’ bracket, thereby preserving its pitching staff and putting more good options on the table for Lopez.

His choices are Heyer, who pitched 7 2/3 innings Friday night in a 12-inning win over Florida State, or sophomore James Farris.

Farris (7-3, 4.18) is the usual third pitcher in the rotation behind Heyer and Konner Wade.

“Haven’t made a definite decision,” Lopez said on Monday afternoon during an interview on 1290-AM KCUB. “But I’m leaning very heavily toward throwing Kurt.”

At this point of the season, no matter the matchups, coaches are usually loath to go with anything other than their best. Let the chips fall where they may after that. No need to over-think it.

Heyer (12-2, 2.22 ERA) has been UA’s best this season.

“He’s our guy,” Lopez told Rob Lantz and Kevin Woodman on 1290-AM.

“It can be debated until the end of the day, but the bottom line is, if your horse is ready, if he feels like he’s 100 percent ready to go, we’ll probably run him out there (Thursday) and try to wrap that thing up and get to the weekend and play for the national title.”

If Arizona wins Thursday against the survivor of Tuesday’s elimination game between UCLA and Florida State, it then advances to the start of the best-of-three championship series on Sunday.

In this best-case scenario, Wade — coming off Sunday’s shutout of UCLA — could start Game 1, followed by Farris in Game 2 and Heyer, if necessary, in Game 3 on four day’s rest.

On the other hand, if Lopez went with Farris on Thursday and the Cats won, then the formidable combination of Heyer and Wade would line up to start the first two games of the championship series.

On yet another hand, if Farris lost Thursday and Heyer had to pitch Friday in an elimination game … then Heyer might only be available for limited duty on short rest in the potential third game of the championship series.

There are pluses and minuses each way, but going with your ace when he’s ready is the typical default choice.

Lopez said he would know more about how Heyer feels physically on Tuesday. Heyer, a sixth-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, has thrown 257 pitches in the past two games, which came a week apart. Pitching on a Thursday would be a day ahead of his usual schedule but shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Farris last pitched on June 4, when he threw his third complete game of the season as the Wildcats beat Louisville 16-3 to clinch an NCAA regional. He allowed 12 hits, striking out seven and walking one.

Here is Arizona’s potential schedule at the CWS:

Thursday
–vs. UCLA or Florida State, 2 p.m. Tucson time

Friday
–vs. UCLA or Florida State (if needed), 2 p.m. or 6 p.m.

Sunday
–Championship series, 5 p.m.

Monday
–Championship series, 5 p.m.

Tuesday
–Championship series (if needed), 5 p.m.

Fred Evander got to sit in on the biggest moment of Andy Lopez's coaching career, after Pepperdine won the 1992 national title. Photo courtesy of Pepperdine athletics.

Fred Evander waited at the gate at the airport for coach Andy Lopez and the Pepperdine baseball team. He was 11. It was 1992.

The Waves were arriving for the College World Series in Omaha, and the boy who had become their biggest fan — and a bit of an inspiration — was waiting at Eppley Airfield.

“Hey, guys!” Lopez shouted as he spotted the boy. “This is Fred!”

Players and coaches converged on Fred. Someone planted a Pepperdine hat on his head. He got to ride on the team bus to the hotel.

According to a newspaper story from 20 years ago, an assistant coach told Fred: “Yours was the first face we wanted to see when we got to Omaha.”

Twenty years. It’s been 20 years since Lopez steered that Pepperdine team to a national title, and he’s trying to lead the Arizona Wildcats to one this season. UA begins play in the College World Series on Friday night against Florida State.

“I never once walked away, saying, ‘This is easy,’” Lopez said about winning the championship. “You’re really thankful when you get to that position. If you’re fortunate enough to win it, you’re very thankful.”

Twenty years. It’s been 20 years since Fred Evander was that baseball-obsessed boy who managed to befriend an entire team and make a memory for a lifetime.

* * *

Back in 1992, Fred was a kid from Ralston, Neb., just outside of Omaha, who faithfully followed the hometown Creighton Bluejays and read Baseball America for fun.

A year earlier, Creighton had traveled to USC for an NCAA regional, defeating Pepperdine along the way to earn a berth in the College World Series. Fred was paying attention.

“And then I was reading Baseball America, the college preview issue, I guess. It said that Pepperdine had almost all their players coming back, and I thought they had a good team,” Evander told TucsonCitizen.com this week.

“So, I wrote them a letter and said, ‘I think you guys are going to come to the College World Series. … I’ll say I loved baseball growing up. It seemed like a no-brainer to me to send a letter.”

Lopez smiled at the memory of it this week, recalling that Fred had sent a photo of himself standing in front of Rosenblatt Stadium, the former home of the College World Series, predicting to the coach that Pepperdine was going to win it all.

Lopez wrote back.

“Sure thing, Fred. When we get there, you make sure you come see us.”

The team sent back an autographed copy of the media guide, and Fred kept sending other encouraging letters. The team posted one of his letters on the door to its locker room.

And, sure enough, there was Fred when the team arrived in Omaha.

Lopez and the Waves adopted him for the rest of their stay. They invited him to team dinners, although Fred had his own baseball obligations to tend to — Little League. As Pepperdine won its first two games, shutting out Wichita State and Texas, Fred created a “scoreless inning meter” and took it to Rosenblatt, updating it as the streak reached into the 20s.

Eventually, Pepperdine navigated its way to the championship game, defeating Cal State Fullerton 3-2 in the final. The Waves, anchored by All-American closer Steve Montgomery, held the Titans to four singles.

If you check out some photos from the on-field celebration, you’ll see an 11-year-old boy right there with the team, wearing a Pepperdine hat and an oversized National Champions T-shirt.

He even got to hold the championship trophy.

“That was pretty incredible,” Evander said.

“I went down right at the end of the game, and they invited me on the field, but security saw me and kicked me back off the field. They were like, ‘What are you doing on the field?’ Then somebody saw me again, and I got to go down for good.

“That was pretty cool.”

Even cooler was what came next.

Lopez took Fred to the postgame press conference, sitting the boy right next to him.

“That was completely crazy,” Evander said. “I remember at the postgame press conference basically sharing a chair with Steve Montgomery.”

Someone in the media wanted to know how he was, what he was doing there.

Just Andy Lopez making a new friend.

“What a neat thing,” Lopez said this week. “Unbelievable. And not just a neat thing for him, but also for me.”

* * *

Evander, a government worker in Washington State, almost reconnected with Lopez when the Cats played the Washington Huskies in Seattle this season, but Evander said he couldn’t make it.

“We’ve stayed in communication off and on,” Lopez said.

Evander’s passion for college baseball has waned over the years, but he keeps tabs on Lopez and still appreciates everything the coach did for him 20 years ago.

“I mean, talk about how nice Coach Lopez was to me at the time,” Evander said.

“Coach Lopez was so gracious to an 11-year-old, which is one of the reasons why it is a good story and why I’m willing to talk about it 20 years later. I’m happy to give his baseball program any support I can.”

Some things haven’t changed in 20 years.

Will Andy Lopez be holding another national championship trophy in Omaha this season? Photo courtesy of Pepperdine athletics

Andy Lopez was 13-15 against Florida State's Mike Martin while the head coach at Florida. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats coach Andy Lopez will face an old rival in the first round of the College World Series — at least, most people think his opponent should be a rival.

But Florida State coach Mike Martin is actually what Lopez calls an “extremely close” friend.

And Lopez’ seven years coaching at state rival Florida from 1995 to 2001 did nothing to change that friendship, which includes sharing a deep Christian faith.

“We were friends before I took the Florida job, and then I took the Florida job … and we were still friends,” said Lopez, whose UA team will take on the Seminoles on Friday in Omaha, starting at 6 p.m. Tucson time.

“Before the games, we would be talking, laughing and giving each other a hug.”

Not that everybody appreciated the civility.

“One time, I will never forget, it was after a Florida State series, and I had my weekly radio show. A guy called in from Starke, Florida, which is outside of Gainesville. And he is upset,” Lopez said.

“We had a pretty good series against Florida State, so I’m thinking how could anybody be upset? I was actually looking forward to that show. And this guy calls and says, ‘You and Coach Martin, you have some kind of love-fast going on there. Man, that’s a Seminole, Coach. A Seminole. We don’t take kindly to that out here.’

“I call up Coach later and said, ‘OK, we have to hate each other now when we play.’”

* * *

Arizona junior pitcher Kurt Heyer was selected a second-team All-American by the National College Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday.

Heyer (12-2, 2.28 ERA) has seven complete games in 17 starts — plus an outing at the Super Regional last weekend in which he pitched into the 10th inning.

He will get the start Friday against Florida State against a lineup that features NCBWA first-team All-American outfielder James Ramsey (.382, team-high 13 home runs) and second-team All-American first baseman Jayce Boyd (.389).

And the Wildcats don’t want to be trailing in the late innings. Florida State closer Robert Benincasa was chosen as a first-team All-American. He has a 1.25 ERA, with 51 strikeouts and just six walks in 36 innings.

* * *

By now, Lopez presumably has been to a gift shop to browse the postcards.

He has a tradition when he gets to the College World Series. He always sends recruits a postcard with a message along the lines of: “You come to Arizona, and in June you’ll be stretching in Omaha.”

Lopez concedes that the concept of a postcard is a bit outdated; the jury is out on whether he really knows how to use e-mail, but he said someone on his staff is sure to deliver his message electronically.

“I’m old-fashioned,” he said. “I’ll still send postcards out. I still write hand-written notes to recruits.”

This is what awaits Arizona later this week -- TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats will play Florida State in their opening game of the College World Series, either Friday or Saturday.

The Seminoles (48-15) crushed Stanford in a sweep of a Super Regional in Tallahassee, winning 17-1 and 18-7 to advance to their third World Series in the past five years. FSU was the No. 3 overall seed in the postseason this year.

“They are obviously a great team. We just couldn’t stay with them,” Stanford coach Mark Marquess said in his postgame press conference Sunday. “They did a fantastic job. They’re a great team. … We didn’t slow them down at all.”

The game times and days are expected to be announced Monday night after the conclusion of all the Super Regional action. There will be two first-round games on Friday and two more on Saturday (start times both days are 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tucson time).

For Arizona fans who might be more familiar with the Women’s College World Series, there is a difference in how the double-elimination championship bracket is set up in baseball.

In softball, there is a crossover between the two sides of the bracket. In baseball, there is no crossover; it’s two four-team brackets in double elimination, with the winners of each side meeting in a three-game championship series. UCLA will play Stony Brook in the other half of the Arizona-FSU bracket.

Florida State coaching legend Mike Martin is in his 33rd season with the Seminoles, which means he has plenty of experience coaching against Arizona’s Andy Lopez, who was the head coach at Florida from 1995 to 2001.

Lopez was 13-15 against Florida State while serving at Florida, including a pair of games at the 1996 World Series. The Gators won both, reaching the semifinals in Lopez’s second season rebuilding the program.

“In all honesty, I don’t see how Andy Lopez did what he did in two years,” Martin was quoted in an AP story after being eliminated by Florida in 1996. “It’s unbelievable. That’s one of the major accomplishments in college baseball. And it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

Arizona is 6-5 all-time against Florida State, with the teams last meeting in 1991, when the Cats took two in a three-game series in Tucson.

The programs have met five times at the College World Series. The Cats won a pair of games against FSU at the 1986 CWS, taking the championship game 10-2.

Arizona also beat the ‘Noles en route to the 1980 title, winning 5-3 in an early elimination game.

Florida State won 4-0 in the opening game in the 1970 CWS. Arizona won the schools’ first-ever meeting 4-3 at the 1963 College World Series.