Barring a major collapse, Arizona will be competing in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season. And current projections have the Wildcats hosting for the second year in a row, which last happened in the 1960s.
Most of its remaining Big 12 opponents are in a completely different scenario. Other than TCU, whom the Wildcats host next weekend, the others have to win the Big 12 Tournament to get into the NCAA tourney. Only 12 of 14 baseball-playing Big 12 schools making the conference tourney next month in Arlington, Texas, so even that first step isn’t a lock for everyone.
Texas Tech, Arizona’s opponent this weekend, is in that boat. The Red Raiders (13-23, 8-10) are in a 3-way tie for 7th place but only two games clear of the Big 12 tourney field cutoff line.
“These are dangerous teams now,” UA coach Chip Hale said of Texas Tech. “You get towards this point, and they know they have to win to get (into) the tournament, to get into the big dance.”
Arizona (29-11, 12-6) is making its first trip to Lubbock since 2017 when it was sent there for a regional and went 1-2 but didn’t play the Red Raiders. Their last meeting was in 2022, at a tourney in Arlington during Hale’s first weekend as head coach, and the UA won 13-2.
Because it’s unfamiliar with the field at Rip Griffin Park, which has FieldTurf everywhere but the pitcher’s mound, the UA left Tucson early Thursday so that it could practice there ahead of the 3-game series. The Wildcats have won all three Big 12 road series, including last weekend at BYU when they bounced back from an opening loss to take the last two.
Texas Tech is 7-8 at home, 4-5 in Big 12 play. It took two of three two weeks ago from Baylor, which handed Arizona its only series loss this season.
Solidified by Summerhill
In starting the season 18-5, including taking two of three at first-place West Virginia, Arizona hit .295 as a team and averaged 7.1 runs per game. But in that finale in Morgantown it lost right fielder Brendan Summerhill to a fractured right hand that kept him out a month.
In 16 games without Summerhill, a projected 1st round MLB Draft pick, the Wildcats went 10-6. And while the offensive numbers—.280 average, 6.4 runs per game—didn’t decline that much, Summerhill’s absence was noticeable in how the lineup was constructed.
“I just think that it allows some comfort with some guys,” hitting coach Toby DeMello said. “I think when you get settled into where you like to hit in the lineup, and then you have to move … you’re talking about moving eight different guys, as opposed to being kind of settled where you hit.”
Arizona used three different leadoff men in Summerhill’s absence, with Aaron Walton faring the best but not as well as he did in the No. 2 spot. Mason White managed to thrive in the No. 2 slot when Walton batted first but is best suited for third in the order, which lengthens the lineup as Garen Caulfield, Maddox Mihalakis and Adonys Guzman follow.
“I think we have a good lineup,” DeMello said. “There’s been some pieces that have been in and out. I would say overall it’s been good. I do think we’re going to start clicking here. I don’t think we’ve put it all together at this point in the season, which is exciting. And we tell the guys that all the time. For where we’re at right now in the season, and we’re winning close games, I really don’t think we’ve even fully clicked yet offensively, and so that part’s exciting.”
Summerhill returned with a bang in Wednesday’s 9-3 win over UT Arlington, homering on the first pitch he saw and going 2 for 3 with a double, two walks and a stolen base. He’ll play DH this weekend as he continues to ease back into throwing, and he’s taking precautions to avoid further injury by covering his right hand with a protective pad over his right hand while at the plate and sliding mitts on both hands while on the bases.
“We’re gonna be as safe as possible with it,” Summerhill said. “But I trust everyone and everyone. No one’s going to put me in a position to reinjure it.”
Arizona still isn’t 100 percent healthy, though. Sophomore Andrew Cain, who had been moved to the outfield during Summerhill’s absence and who had been getting hot at the plate, has missed the last three games after getting hit by a pitch April 17 at BYU.
“He got hit in the knee, but I think the problem is it hit a nerve that runs over the knee, and it just hasn’t allowed him to get out over it and really be able to run either,” Hale said. “He’ll play right at Texas Tech if he’s healthy.”
If Cain can’t go it will be freshman Gunner Geile, who is 5 for 11 with five RBI over the last three games.
McKinney’s metamorphosis
Entering this season, the only one of Arizona’s weekend starting pitchers with significant college experience was Baylor transfer Collin McKinney. That likely contributed to him getting the Friday night slot, which he’s held all season, but only recently has he started performing like a No. 1 arm.
The redshirt sophomore has a 2.79 ERA, which ranks third in the Big 12, but he’s only thrown 42 innings in 10 starts. The last two have been among the deepest he’s gone, going six innings at BYU after 5.2 against Oklahoma State, whereas before that he’d only gotten out of the 5th inning once.
“I think it’s just trusting my stuff more, knowing that I belong to be out there,” McKinney said. “And I got a good defense behind me, guys will pick me up. And it just makes it all easier. It’s just sticking to the process. Try to eliminate the result and just going out there with a clear mind. Once you do that, then good things tend to happen.”
Pitching coach Kevin Vance said McKinney has become more comfortable out there, particularly on the mental side, and that’s helped cut down on his walks and hit batters. He has issued a combined 34 free passes but only six in the last two starts when he’s managed to get to the 100-pitch mark for the first times this season.
“He’s still throwing strikes,” Vance said. “And when he’s throwing strikes, his stuff is so good that I like our chances. Now that the command is a lot more there, it’s just easier to send him back out, because you know what you’re going to get.”
Texas Tech is near the bottom of the Big 12 in drawing walks, getting 65 in 18 conference games.
Lefties in Lubbock?
Arizona’s pitching staff is incredibly righty dominant, with only three left-handers on the roster. And until Mason Russell and Eric Orloff pitched on Wednesday none had been in a game in more than two weeks.
Orloff, Russell and Jack Berg have combined for just 21 appearances and 16 innings this season. Orloff, a senior who is tied for 7th in career games pitched at UA with 81, hadn’t been in a game since March 26 before retiring the side in order with two strikeouts in the 9th on Wednesday.
“We’re going to need them,” Vance said of his southpaws. “If we’re going to win championships we need everyone, and they’re ready to go, and everyone just needs to be ready for their opportunity.”
Arizona normally includes 15 pitchers on its 30-man weekend series roster but while 12 different relievers have appeared in a Big 12 game this season there are a handful that have gotten most of the work. Garrett Hicks has appeared in 11 of 18 conference tilts, followed by eight for Casey Hintz, that duo combining for almost 47 percent of the innings.
Tony Pluta, Hunter Alberini, Julian Tonghini and Matthew Martinez are the other relief arms that have seen regular time, with Pluta leading the Big 12 with eight saves.
Carson Johnson was the only other reliever who pitched at BYU, and that was in mop up duty on Thursday. The previous weekend, in taking two of three from Oklahoma State, only four relievers were used.
If Arizona finishes in the top four in the regular season it would play no more than three games at the Big 12 Tournament, but come NCAA tourney time the possibility of five games in a weekend is there
“As we get through the next month of the season, (14) games, we’re going to hopefully be playing on championship Sundays and even Mondays in regionals,” Vance said. “Definitely, we’re going to need a little bit more depth to win those games. We need to get them in.”