At 7:13 p.m. on March 26, the Arizona baseball team retreated to its clubhouse in a state of despair. Inclement weather forced a delay in the UA-New Mexico State game at Hi Corbett Field. The Wildcats trailed the Aggies 9-1 in the fifth inning. Short of lightning striking the left field foul pole, the “Juice Box” was devoid of juice.
Since then?
Michael Lev is a senior writer/columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com and The Wildcaster.
Electricity. Magic. Joy.
Arizona didn’t win that night, suffering its third defeat in four games to fall to 10-13. But the UA outscored NMSU 8-3 the rest of the way. And the Wildcats haven’t lost since.
They won their 11th game in a row Sunday, defeating Louisiana Tech 5-2 to complete a weekend sweep. Arizona’s streak is the longest in the nation and the program’s longest within the confines of one season since 2012 — the last time Arizona won the College World Series.
When a team gets on a heater like this, you can’t help but ponder the possibilities — especially when four of the 11 wins are walk-offs. The idea of playing in — and winning — an NCAA regional actually came up during Chip Hale’s postgame scrum Sunday.
“That’s what we’re hoping,” Hale said. “Obviously, you need to get in first. And then we’re hoping that these guys have something to go back to like, ‘Hey, we can win if we’re down; we can hold a lead.’ All these things are important.”
None of it seemed plausible when Arizona was on its way to losing to an NMSU squad that hadn’t won a road game since last April. But Hale continued to believe in his team, even when the outward signs weren’t favorable. He knew the Wildcats’ pitching was plenty good enough. He figured the offense would come around.
He didn’t like the way the Wildcats were playing that night and let them know it as they waited out the delay. But he wasn’t ready to give up on them.
“He just told us to stay with it,” recalled Cam Walty, who improved to 6-1 after allowing two unearned runs in seven innings vs. Louisiana Tech on Sunday. “He’s like, ‘Take this time to reset and go back out there.’ It didn’t go our way that night. But I think we took that and carried it throughout the rest of the games.”
Arizona's Garen Caulfield gets a Powerade bath after driving in the winning run in the Wildcats' walk-off win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Never too late
At 9:09 p.m. Saturday, Garen Caulfield singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Maddox Mihalakis and complete the unlikeliest of comebacks.
Arizona trailed Louisiana Tech 5-0 entering the bottom of the ninth. The Wildcats had as many errors as hits (five apiece). They had no business winning that game. They did anyway.
A follower on social media reminded me of a similar rally vs. UCLA in 2016. The Wildcats trailed the Bruins 5-1 entering the bottom of the ninth. Arizona won 6-5.
That was a special afternoon to be sure. But no one knew in late March that that team would advance to the CWS finals. Heck, it wasn’t even a guarantee that Arizona would make the NCAA Tournament after losing four of its final six Pac-12 games.
That team coalesced in the humidity of Lafayette, Louisiana; soared in Starkville, Mississippi; and almost went all the way in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Arizona baseball team poses for a picture after defeating Louisiana Tech on Saturday night. The Wildcats completed the sweep on Sunday and have won 11 in a row.
This team found its stride in late March. You hope that the Wildcats aren’t peaking too soon. But if they hadn’t turned it around when they did, it might’ve been too late.
On a game-to-game basis, “too late” doesn’t apply to the 2024 Cats. The streak started with three straight walk-offs against UCLA. It reached double digits with an out-of-nowhere rally Saturday night.
“I think it’s just toughness,” Walty said. “It’s believing in yourself and knowing that yeah, maybe things weren’t going our way at first, but still believing in the process and just trusting your ability. That’s why you’re here.”
Quick personal aside: I wasn’t in attendance Saturday night. When the comeback was unfolding, I was driving down I-10 after a family day spent in Phoenix. My wife was providing updates before turning her attention to the next act at Coachella.
It was — kid you not — No Doubt.
Picking each other up
At 12:19 p.m. Sunday, Tony Pluta induced a groundout to close out the Bulldogs. It was the type of quick, efficient, relatively clean game that has become the trademark of the ’24 Wildcats.
Walty, Eric Orloff and Pluta combined to allow five hits and zero walks. It was the third time during the streak that Arizona did not issue a single base on balls. The Wildcats entered the weekend with the lowest BB/9 rate in the nation. If you’ve followed UA baseball at all in recent years, that might be the most improbable development of all.
Considerable credit must go to first-year pitching coach Kevin Vance, Hale’s biggest recruit of the offseason. Vance has brought the best out of Arizona’s pitchers, most of whom are returnees.
The staff’s consistent effectiveness has alleviated pressure on the hitters, who’ve improved in critical ways. A lineup that was striking out at an unacceptable clip hasn’t fanned as many as 10 times since that game vs. NMSU.
The Wildcats are playing complementary baseball — which is a lot easier to do when you allow about three runs per game.
Arizona pitchers Cam Walty, left, and Eric Orloff combined with Tony Pluta for 10 strikeouts and zero walks in the Wildcats' 5-2 win over Louisiana Tech on Sunday, the UA's 11th consecutive victory.
“If one guy drops a ball or gets out in a big count, then we have these other guys that can pick them up,” Walty said. “That’s what makes us a good team.”
Arizona wasn’t perfect Sunday. Third baseman Xavier Esquer and catcher Blake McDonald lost popups in the bright midday sun in the sixth inning, when Louisiana Tech scored twice to trim its deficit to 5-2.
But Esquer’s misplay was the only error of the day. Walty retired four of the final five batters he faced. Orloff allowed a single before setting down three in a row. Pluta went 1-2-3 in the ninth.
The ideal scenario for any coach in any sport is to win but still have stuff to work on. The popups served that purpose heading into Tuesday’s game at Grand Canyon.
“Coach (Jerry) Kindall, who I played for here, was very good about this,” Hale said. “When you win, you have to be a little critical about any mistakes you make. Like the popups today, we gotta work on that. So you can knock them down a little bit that way. And when you lose, you try to pump the guys up.”
Hale was ready for a pump-up speech Saturday night. It remains on hold.
Arizona coach Chip Hale discusses some of his team's keys to success after the Wildcats defeated Louisiana Tech on Sunday to sweep the series and extend their winning streak to 11 games (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)
