Arizona Wildcats baseball arrived in Texas more than a week ago needing a couple of wins against Houston to secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats leave the Lone Star State having won five games in a row and a ticket to the NCAAs firmly in hand after winning the Big 12 Tournament.
Arizona coach Chip Hale is ready to get back to Tucson and enjoy the conference championship before quickly turning his team’s attention to NCAA Regionals.
“This was such a fun two weeks and I’m so happy for them, we’ve been in Texas and drove up from Houston to play, but I think everyone is excited to get back home,” Hale said after Arizona’s 2-1 win over TCU in the Big 12 Tournament championship game Saturday in Arlington.
A full recap of the game can be found here. Below is what Hale, Andrew Cain, Mason White and Smith Bailey had to say afterwards.
Hale on Arizona’s resiliency: “What an honor. First year in the Conference, the kids just battled their tails off. Super proud of them. There were situations all night to score runs, and we just couldn’t get a ball moving forward. So it’s not easy, when it keeps coming up and all of a sudden you put a little too much pressure on yourself. So, I was really proud of them to come through later. But it was only made possible by great pitching. So just honored to be Big 12 Champions.”
On entering a new era: “I think this is a great baseball conference, a lot of different cities and places to go to, the guys handled it great and the competition. It was really fun for the guys.”
On getting back home before preparing for Regionals: “This was such a fun two weeks and I’m so happy for them, we’ve been in Texas and drove up from Houston to play, but I think everyone is excited to get back home. I think the guys are a bit tired, but these guys worked hard, and we are to get ready for regional.”
Cain on Arizona opening the season with losses at Globe Life: “We played some really good teams in this park, it was kind of a slap in the face, so we went back home and won a bunch of games back home then started winning on the road. It was definitely an eye opener, and it helped us for where we are at now.”
White on being named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament: “I won the Pac-12 last year, we were the one seed coming into that game and Chip told me before, just show the conference who you are. But I just went into that tournament just letting it fly and trying to do as much as I could to help us win. So coming here, I’ve been in this spot before where it’s the end of the year and we’re competing to host again, and so I was just letting it fly and having fun in a neutral setting.”
On playing in the Big 12: “Coming into the conference, not a lot of teams were familiar with Arizona, especially such a broad conference around the country, so just kind of showing the conference we were pretty good at baseball and we really care about baseball, so I think it showed.”
Bailey on being a freshman on a big stage: “I don’t really think of myself as a freshman anymore. I think I’m more of a sophomore, especially with the year that has been going on. I think I needed to mature and grow up, and I think I did a good job of that. It was great that I started off the year throwing in this stadium. I just tried to do the same things I did a couple months ago, just try to come out here and throw. Stopped worrying about stuff that doesn’t matter especially in a game like this because the goal is to win. I came out and trusted my preparation and just performed as best I could.”
Lead photo courtesy of the Big 12 Conference