CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Arizona has forced a winner-take-all Super Regional game against host North Carolina, winning 10-8 on Saturday to set up Sunday’s contest. The Wildcats (43-19) are trying to clinch a spot in the College World Series for the 19th time in school history, first since 2021, but to do so they’ll need to hand the Tar Heels their first back-to-back losses since mid-March.
The UA had seven hits and three walks with two outs, scoring six runs with two down, to earn its ninth win in the last 10 games and improve to 4-0 in elimination games this season.
“Since the Big 12 Tournament it’s that foxhole mentality,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “They’re going to fight for each other, and they know if they don’t get something done, there’s somebody behind them that’s going to pick them up.”
Our recap from Saturday’s wild Game 2 can be found here. Below is what Hale, closer Tony Pluta and first baseman Tommy Splaine said about the victory:
Hale on Arizona bouncing back from Friday’s 18-2 loss: “These guys are very resilient. Obviously, after yesterday, they were able to flush it and came back, a couple, two, three times here today. I always tell them, it’s really fun to watch them play. When you’re coaching, and you can get this deep in the season, sometimes that’s kind of our job, to stay out of the way and let them get after it.”
On having 7 hits and 3 walks with 2 outs: “Sometimes that is the most vulnerable pitchers get. It’s an interesting thing. It’s all way in the major leagues, the same thing happens. It’s a weird dynamic where we would have to battle it all the time, where guys get two quick out especially, and all of a sudden they think they’re done, and they’re not. And our guys kept fighting.”
On Mason White drawing a walk with 2 out in the 7th in a tie game: “It seemed like they were doing the old unintentional, intentional walk. It seemed like that way. And all of a sudden it was 3-2 and he battled, fought off some really tough pitches. That’s just sort of the deal is seeing as many pitches we can and making them throw the ball where we can hit. I think a lot of times we’re very successful when we get the pitch we can handle. We don’t swing at their pitches. It was probably one of the biggest at-bats of the game.”
On if humidity, nerves or inexperience contributed to not throwing many first-pitch strikes: “Probably all the above. I thought the same thing. Ten free 90s. I think that’s something we can improve on tomorrow. Smith Bailey is going to start, and let’s get ahead and attack. But again, these are really, really good hitters. We’re facing veteran guys who know how to battle with two strikes, know how to just punch the ball back through the middle.”
On scoring first: “I think that was huge. When you talk about trying to get on top and and keep adding on, that’s what we want to do every game.”
On rallying after falling behind in the 7th: “I’m amazed, to be frank with you, that after we gave up the 3-run homer—because Hintz was rolling. That’s how Casey pitches, and he made one bad pitch, and Bass took advantage of it. And that’s just great hitting. This is a really, really good ballclub we’re playing, and to match that and come back and score the next inning was—as a head coach, I’m over there at third base almost freaking in tears. It makes me really proud.”
On his confidence in Sunday starter Smith Bailey: “A lot of confidence. He’s not a freshman anymore, he’s a sophomore now. He’s proven his grit in big games, in Eugene and the Big 12 Tournament. I’m sure there’ll be some butterflies, there’ll be some some weird pitches early on, but he’s been able to bounce back. So yeah, I have a lot of confidence in him.”
On Brendan Summerhill failing to catch a ball in right field: “He didn’t get a good read on it. He’s definitely not 100 percent (with) base stealing, moving around, he’s still a little bit 90 percent. He just got a bad jump on that. I had TJ (Adams) ready because I was felt the same way. And we talked to him, and he said he was good enough to go, so he’ll play, and if there’s any risk of injury, I get him out of the game, but he says he’s fine.”
On who would be available to pitch Sunday: “I think Tony (Pluta), if he had to pitch, he could pitch. He’s gonna tell us that tomorrow, but we’ll make sure. We’re never gonna put anybody out there that we’re going to risk injury. That’s just not gonna happen. So we’ll assess everybody tomorrow, see how they feel. I mean, he might say right now, it feels great, we’ll see how he feels in the morning. It’s an early game.”
On if Bailey would have a shorter leash with only a few arms fresh: “It can’t be. It’s win or go home. We’ll figure out a way. If it means (Owen) Kramkowski will come back and pitch a little bit, if it means (Raul) Garayzar can pitch a little bit, he was a reliever. All hands on deck.”
Pluta on the start of his relief outing: “It was pretty tough. The crowd was really getting into it. The heat was getting to me a little bit. But I was just able to grit it out a little bit and get some pitches in the right spot and we got the win.”
On being able to rebound from Friday: “I I just think that it’s this team just wants to keep playing. We want to keep going. I dream of Omaha. We really want to get there, today showed that after Friday. Just being able to bounce back today was a big confidence piece. We know that we can compete this team. We can win here.”
On dealing with the humidity: “Yeah, we’re not really used to this humidity. It was nice that we went to Houston, then to Texas, so we had a little bit of practice with it.”
Splaine on the 2-out hitting: “I’d say just finding some holes. I mean, as a team, we definitely try and get gritty no matter the situation, but especially with two outs, I think we just accepted the plan even more and just stayed with it.”
On trying to keep from playing his last college game: “I’m just honestly trying not to really think about that, just thinking about the team, taking it pitch by pitch. Just trying to stay relaxed and play for the guy next to me.”
On being able to force a third game: “We’re willing to do whatever to get there and we believe in all the guys in the locker room Just one game at a time, one pitch at a time, we’re ready.”