The pressure and threat of the offseason upon them, the Arizona Wildcats baseball team now sits on a three-game winning streak. All were elimination games.
After falling to Seton Hall in their first postseason game, Arizona (38-20) trounced Wright State 13-0 before winning Sunday's double-header against, once again, Seton Hall and then host Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. A 6-0 victory against Seton Hall saw freshman pitcher Konner Wade go a season-high seven innings in the shutout.
Take a glance at their loss in their first postseason game. A 4-0 loss to Seton Hall was perplexing and confusing considering the Wildcats are one of the most offensively-driven teams in the nation. Since, they've awaken back into the form that saw them make a strong streak entering the postseason.
But the biggest surprise came Sunday evening, when the Wildcats stunned the home team with a 7-4 victory in a game that saw them turn to little-used reliever Nick Cunningham for 5 1/3 innings following a line drive hit that caught pitcher Tyler Hale's arm.
Hale left in the third, and the injury could be a big one should the Wildcats steal tomorrow's 4:30 p.m. finale against the Aggies.
Finley later Tweeted the following:
Correction: Hale has a NONdisplaced radial fracture. Still no surgery. There's a reason I'm in journalism,not medicine. :)#ArizonaWildcats
All night long, Arizona was playing catch-up. Trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning, Arizona's Robert Refsnyder, Bobby Brown and Jett Bandy all scored thanks to RBIs by Bandy, Alex Mejia and Seth Mejias-Brean. They added some cushion in the next inning to give themselves room for the Aggies to score two more runs.
It's a testament to coach Andy Lopez's firm grasp on preparation and team building. It was just a few years ago that the UA coach gutted the roster, telling the kids that didn't take their school-work and team attitudes seriously to find somewhere else to play.
Now what's he have on his hands? A group of players that, while young, don't lack confidence in their abilities and don't fold when their backs are against the wall.