Arizona baseball can’t complete comeback, swept by Cal

Entering Berkeley on a six-game winning streak, including a sweep of No. 7 UCLA, the Arizona Wildcats looked like a sure thing to reach the postseason.

Now they are back on the bubble after being swept by the California Golden Bears, falling 12-11 in Sunday’s series finale.

Arizona is 29-20 overall and 10-14 in the Pac-12. Only six conference games remain — three at home against ASU and three on the road at Oregon — so the Wildcats have to go 6-2 the rest of the way to finish .500 in the Pac-12.

Arizona has a non-conference game Monday at Sacramento State, which is 134th in RPI, so it needs to win that one.

The Wildcats surrendered six runs in the fourth, then six more in the sixth, which allowed Cal to lead 12-3 heading into the seventh.

Arizona made things interesting by scoring four runs in the eighth and four in the ninth, but Ryan Haug struck out with the tying run on first to end the game.

The Wildcats outhit the Bears 14-11, but also left 10 on base. That wasn’t their problem. Their problem was pitching.

Juan Aguilera (6-1, 2.96 ERA) got roughed up, allowing six runs in four innings. Gil Luna and Jonathan Guardado each surrendered three runs in relief.

UA allowed a whopping 37 runs during the three-game series.

The Wildcats are truly a different team away from Hi Corbett this season. They are 21-5 at home, but 8-15 in other venues.

Arizona was projected to be the three-seed in the Raleigh Regional at the beginning of the week, so it will be interesting to see where it’s placed after being swept by Cal.