Arizona baseball: No ‘giraffe in center field’ but a near no-hitter in opener
Saturday, February 16th, 2013
Konner Wade allowed only one hit in the season opener. 2012 photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Arizona baseball coach Andy Lopez had an intriguing choice for his first major in-game dilemma of the season.
The Wildcats’ starting pitcher, Konner Wade, was throwing a no-hitter through six innings Friday night, but he also was getting near his pitch limit as he went out for the seventh inning.
It’s a long season; there was no need for Lopez to push Wade too hard in what ended up being a 16-0 win over Coppin State at Hi Corbett Field. On the other hand, Lopez was willing to bend the pitch count if Wade kept pitching clean.
“I wouldn’t have let him go to 140 pitches,” Lopez said.
“In my mind, I was thinking, he can get this done with 105, 110 max. That’s not too bad. He’s a junior. He’s pitched a lot. I told my staff, ‘I’m not getting him.’”
The situation resolved itself before Lopez had to worry too much.
