Chip Hale doesn’t consider himself a particularly religious man, but he says a prayer before each game. Not for Arizona to win, but for him to let the game play out even when things aren’t going great at the outset.
He needed that invocation a lot this weekend, as Arizona trailed in the 6th inning or later in all three games against Oklahoma State but still managed to take the series.
“Every game I say a prayer to help me be as as relaxed as I can be, and let the players play free,” Hale said after the UA walked off the Cowboys 5-4 on Sunday afternoon to take the series. “Because I think a lot of times we as coaches cause them to get too much anxiety. So I try my best to just let them be who they can be.”
Maddox Mihalakis’ 2-out single in the bottom of the 9th scored Aaron Walton, after OSU had tied it with two down in the top of the inning on a home run. Arizona (25-10, 10-5 Big 12) had taken a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 8th with two runs, tying it on an RBI single from Andrew Cain and going ahead on Tommy Splaine’s sacrifice fly.
Oklahoma State (16-17, 5-8) led 3-0 after four innings, each run scoring on a ball that never left the infield. Starter Hunter Watkins, who pitched twice against Arizona last season while at Grand Canyon, went 6.1 innings and limited the UA to two runs on six hits as OSU’s starters combined to throw 23.1 innings in the series.
“They pitched their tails off and did such a nice job all weekend,” Hale said of OSU. “But we battled and kept grinding, and our pitchers gave us a chance, and I thought we played really good defense today.”
Cain, who has been converted into an outfielder and started Sunday in right field, was 3 for 3 with a walk and two RBI, finishing a home run shy of the cycle. But when he came up with runners on first and second and 1 out in the 8th he faced a lefty, against whom he was hitting .063 before poking an 0-2 pitch up the middle to tie it at 3.
“I appreciate all the confidence they give me, and all my teammates have in me, to let me go out in that situation,” Cain said. “I got it through and did a job.”
Garrett Hicks got the win, throwing the final four innings in relief of starter Smith Bailey. He had allowed only two baserunners, both wiped out by double plays, before falling behind against Garrett Shull and giving up just the eighth homer allowed by an Arizona reliever this season.
That set up Arizona to walk it off for the third time in 2025, first since February. Walton reached on a fielding error and moved to second on a wild pitch which prompted OSU to intentionally walk Mason White on a 1-1 count.
Adonys Guzman grounded into a double play, moving Walton to third, but Mihalakis roped the first pitch he saw into the gap in right-center for the game-winning hit.
“He’s a professional hitter,” Hale said of Mihalakis, who also had the go-ahead 3-run homer in Saturday’s 5-1 win. “He’s very smart, he’s in tune with what the pitchers are trying to do to him. And even when he makes outs he has the right approach to what he’s doing. Everybody kept going, why didn’t you bunt Donnie, Donnie has been so good for us, and I knew even with a double play, we’d have a guy still in scoring position.”
Arizona won its 12th consecutive series finale at Hi Corbett Field, improving to 24-4 under Hale in those games. It was the first time this season the Wildcats won a series after losing the opening game, and it keeps them a game back of TCU and West Virginia in the Big 12 standings.
The UA plays its next two conference series on the road, starting Thursday at BYU, but before that hosts Grand Canyon on Tuesday. The Antelopes (22-13) have won four straight against Arizona, including 11-5 in Phoenix on April 1 and in the NCAA regional last season.
“We have less days to rest, so we need to give some guys some rest, but we need to win this game,” Hale said. “I think it’s very important for our club to play their best ball, win or lose.”