EUGENE, Ore.—Arizona has built its team to succeed in its own ballpark, the cavernous Hi Corbett Field. In exchange for not hitting many home runs—just 27 in 30 games this season—the Wildcats lead the nation in triples and get plenty of doubles.
But put this UA team in a smaller park, with the wind blowing out, and boy can it be fun to watch.
Arizona hit a school-record eight home runs, three by Mason White, in a 14-4 win over Utah Valley in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night at PK Park. The win advances the Wildcats (41-18) into the Eugene Regional final on Sunday night.
“The bats came out today, a little more than yesterday,” UA coach Chip Hale said.
White homered on his first three at-bats, banging a 2-run shot off the right field foul pole in the top of the 1st inning, then going to right-center in the 3rd and dead center in the 4th for the 9th 3-homer game in school history and first in the postseason. He finished 4 for 5 with a double to give him 110 extra-base hits, tying Dave Stegman’s school mark from 1973-76.
“We saw the wind when we got here, saw it in BP, and then nothing changed,” said White, who is up to 18 homers this season with nine in May. “We just hit like how we hit. And you see in Hi Corbett, it really doesn’t help out the wind blowing in, but playing in a park like this it really shows.”
Tommy Splaine, Brendan Summerhill, Aaron Walton, Adonys Guzman and Garen Caulfield also homered, with Caulfield’s opposite-field shot in the 8th breaking the previous school record set in 2001 against Washington State.
“They hit eight home runs, and they didn’t hit eight cheap home runs,” Utah Valley coach Nate Rasmussen said.
Arizona belted out 19 hits, including a school-record 14 for extra bases. The Wildcats had scored only five runs on eight hits in the previous two games, managing only two in Friday’s 3-2 win over Cal Poly.
“We actually talked about it before we left the hotel, just get our best swing off,” Hale said. “Get our best swing off, hit low, hard contact. Sometimes people think you’re trying to hit the ball in the air. They’re not, they’re trying to hit low line drives, and they end up going a long way.”
White’s first homer spotted Raul Garayzar a 2-0 lead before he got on the mound but that edge was gone quickly. Utah Valley (33-28) got the first two on and scored twice, aided by a dropped relay by Caulfield on what would have been a double play.
Easton Breyfogle’s sacrifice fly gave Arizona the lead for good in the 2nd, and White’s second homer upped it to 4-2. Splaine, Summerhill and White hit solo shots in the 4th to make it 7-2.
Garayzar put the first three on in the bottom of the 4th on a single and two hit batters and was pulled, the shortest outing for a UA starter since May 10. Casey Hintz came on with the bases loaded and got a trio of ground balls, the first two bringing in runs.
“You look at the scoreboard, I think at the time it was 7-2,” said Hintz, who would throw three scoreless innings and record seven outs on grounders, the other two on strikeouts. “At the time, it’s just get outs, get ground balls, turn a double play, just minimize what’s going on. All you can do is minimize, go pitch by pitch, and just don’t let them get more damage.”
Michael Hilker Jr. then finished it out with three shutout innings and seven strikeouts to get the save as the UA bullpen allowed one hit over six innings.
Arizona put the game away with a 6-run 8th that included 2-run homers by Walton and Guzman. For Walton, who was 3 for 6 after coming in 9 of 56, it was his first since homering twice on May 2, while Guzman’s deep oppo shot to right-center came after he was robbed of a homer to center by Utah Valley’s Nate Bach.
The UA now waits to see who it will face Sunday at 7 p.m. PT, getting the winner of a 3 p.m. PT elimination game between Utah Valley and Cal Poly (42-18). The Wildcats need to win once more to advance to their first Super Regional since 2021.
“Mission hasn’t changed,” White said.