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Wildcats Dethrone South Carolina…

Arizona celebrates the program's first national title since 1986 (Photo Pete LaFleur)

OMAHA, Neb. (6/25/12) – For the first time during its 13-day stay in Omaha, the Arizona baseball team started a pitcher other than Kurt Heyer or Konner Wade … but the result was the same: another dominating performance on the mound and another win, for a Wildcats team that breezed through the 2012 NCAAs without a loss (10-0). Sophomore righthander James Farris – making his first appearance in 22 days – logged 7.2 strong innings while his teammates rallied to score three times in the top of the 9th, as Arizona beat two-time defending champion South Carolina, 4-1, to claim the school’s fourth NCAA baseball title on Monday night at TD Ameritrade Park.  front-page photo by CB360’s Pete LaFleur

CLICK HERE for CB360’s postgame video page from Monday’s final game at the 2012 College World Series.

2012 CWS All-Tournament Team

Catcher – Riley Moore, Arizona

1B – Christian Walker, South Carolina

2B – Devon Travis, Florida State

3B – Sherman Johnson, Florida State

SS – Alex Mejia, Arizona

OF – Evan Marzilli, South Carolina

OF – Joey Rickard, Arizona

OF – Robert Refsnyder, Arizona

DH – Bobby Brown, Arizona

P – Michael Roth, South Carolina

P – Konner Wade, Arzona

Most Outstanding Player

Robert Refsnyder, Arizona

Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Postgame Notes 
AP Recap  |  AZ Recap  |  SC Recap (w/ video)
Press Conference Transcripts – AZ … SC
Video Highlights  |  Photos (AP/AZ)  |  Photos (AP/SC)
CWS Stats (teams & top individuals)
Final 2012 Season Stats: AZ  |  SC
Arizona 2012 Postseason Stats: CWS  |  NCAAs
NCAA.com Features: Andy Lopez  |  Finals Gm-2 Preview

(check back to this page later for complete recap, along with CB360’s assortment of postgame video for both teams, game photos, etc.)

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As in the past few days, CollegeBaseball360 provides extensive video postgame interviews – links being added below from Sunday night’s Arizona win over South Carolina (in the opener of the CWS best-of-3 title series). front-page photo of Konner Wade & Andy Lopez by CB360’s Pete LaFleur

CLICK HERE for the CB360 game recap from Arizona’s 5-1win over South Carolina.

Arizona formal postgame press conference

Arizona so. RHP Konner Wade

Arizona jr. RF Robert Refsnyder

Arizona jr. SS Alex Mejia

South Carolina formal postgame press conference

South Carolina catcher Grayson Greiner

South Carolina CF Evan Marzilli

South Carolina coach Ray Tanner

Konner Wade (photo by CB360's Pete LaFleur)

OMAHA, Neb. (6/24/12) – Sophomore righthander Konner Wade went the distance yet again while junior rightfielder Robert Refsnyder showcased his skill-set all over the field, as the University of Arizona baseball team crept closer to the NCAA championship with Sunday night’s 5-1 win over two-time defending national champion South Carolina. Arizona (47-17) – riding a 10-game winning streak that includes a 92-34 scoring margin in nine NCAA Tournament games – now can win the title with another victory over the Gamecocks, either Monday night (7 CT) back at TD Ameritrade Park or on Tuesday if South Carolina  (49-19) extends the best-of-3 series.

CLICK HERE for CB360’s assortment of postgame video for both teams

Final Stats: HTML & PDF  |  Postgame Notes
Press Conference Transcripts – AZ … SC
Video Highlights  |  Photos (AP)

Wade followed up his shutout of Pac-12 rival UCLA one week earlier by fashioning another strong complete-game effort, at one point seeing his College World Series shutout streak extend to 14.2 innings before South Carolina pushed across its lone run, in the top of the 6th. The surging sophomore faced only 33 batters over the full nine innings, allowing six hits and a walk to go along with three strikeouts in the 110-pitch outing.

Wade’s regular season was nothing to write home about (4.88 ERA, 7-3 record, 34 walks and .246 opponent batting) – but the Wildcats #2 starter has flipped the switch during the NCAA Tournament. After rattling off postseason victories over Louisville, St. John’s, UCLA and now South Carolina, Wade has compiled a 1.29 ERA during those four NCAA Tournament starts. He has eight more innings pitched (35) than hits allowed (27) during the NCAAs and has issued only three walks over the past month, for a nine-inning average of 0.77 walks per 9 innings during the NCAAs (compared to 3.02 BB/9 IP during the regular season). Opponents are batting only .209 vs. Wade in the NCAAs, nearly 40 points below his regular-season opp. batting avg.

In his two CWS starts, Wade owns a 0.50 ERA and equally-low 6.00 “WHIP” (1 BB + 11 H / 18 IP), with seven strikeouts, a .175 opp. batting avg. and 201 total pitches spanning the 18 innings. He is the first pitcher since 2005 to throw complete games in consecutive CWS starts (dating back to Fullerton’s Jason Windsor in ’05). Wade’s 6th-inning walk on Sunday ended his streak of 30.2 innings without allowing a base-on-balls. Through three innings on Sunday, Wade had located 76% of his pitches (28-of-37) for strikes and finished at 66% strikes (73-of-110).

If Arizona does go on to win the NCAA title, the tournament MVP likely could be Wade … but Refsnyder’s all-around, high-level contributions also may merit him MVP consideration (should the Wildcats win on Mon. or Tues.). The Arizona cleanup batter is not a “five-tool” player in terms of pro potential, but he certainly brought his tool chest to the ballpark on Sundau while helping his team claim the series-opening win.

Refsnyder already was one of the top hitters for average during this CWS and he took it up another notch on Tuesday, batting 2-for-3 with a pair of walks for a .444 CWS batting avg. (8-for-18) that trails only Florida State’s Devon Travis (.563; 9-16) and teammate Riley Moore (.500; 7-14) among the event’s hitting leaders. Hitting for power? Refsnyder became the first player with multiple home runs at the 2012 CWS in the earlygoing Sunday night, after working ahead vs. righthander Forest Koumas, fouling off the next two pitches and parking the next 2-2 offering into the South Carolina bullpen beyond the rightfield wall for a 2-0 lead (Johnny Field earlier had reached on a 1-out, 1st-pitch single through the left side).

Did we mention that Refsnyder is a righthanded hitter? The momentum-grabbing, opposite-field blast drew high praise in the postgame press conference.

South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner, before answering a different question about Refsnyder, instead diverted his answer to the earlier home run. “How about an opposite-field home run in this park?” Tanner said, in part-question/part-statement. “When he touched that ball off, I said ‘that ball’s been hit hard.’ But I expected it to be maybe off the warning track, one-hop to the fence. But that was impressive.”

“That’s why he’s one of the better players in the country. He’s able to do things like that.”

While reaching base four times, Refsnyder sprinkled in some defensive gems during the late innings. His pair of catches in the top of the 6th included an above-average running catch down the line, helping limit South Carolina’s lone scoring inning to the single run. The Gamecocks were poised for more in the 7th, as it looked like the defending champs were about to have runners on the corners and the potential tying run at the plate (Arizona did not stretch to 5-1 until the bottom of the 7th). With Adam Matthews on first, Kyle Martin had pulled a single into right field. Matthews rounded second and was bidding for third, but Refsnyder had other ideas – firing across the field for the 9-5 putout (tag by 3B Seth Mejias-Brean) and yet another huge momentum play.

Moments later, Refsnyder had singled and was on second with two outs before making his own aggressive move on the basepaths after Bobby Brown‘s single through the right side, showing his speed and baserunning skills to score the game’s final run.

Refsnyder’s stat line for the 2012 CWS now includes reaching base on more than half of his plate appearances (11-of-21, or 52.4%; 8-for-18, with 3 BB) to go along with the pair of home runs, 5 RBI, 5 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases over the course of the four wins in Omaha. He has reached base in 38 consecutive games and now has 18 multiple-RBI games this season.

Bullets followed by notes that you may find interesting … 

• Moore, the Arizona freshman catcher, hit 3-for-4 from the 8-spot on Sunday, boosting his CWS average to .500 (7-for-14) … CF/leadoff batter Joey Rickard (2-for-4 Sunday) is hitting .421 in the NCAAs (16-38) … LF/2-hole Johnny Field scored twice on Sunday and now has 13 runs to go with 13 RBI in the 2012 NCAAs.

• Arizona’s 16 complete games include seven from Kurt Heyer and six by Wade … South Carolina’s lone CG came earlier in the CWS, by Michael Roth vs. Kent State.

• Arizona is bidding to become the first team since Fulllerton’s 1995 squad to receive 7-plus innings from its starter in every game of the CWS (Heyer threw 7.2 and 7.1 in his pair of wins over FSU) … The Arizona starters have logged 7.1 innings or more in every game of the 2012 NCAAs (avg. of nearly 8.2 per start).

• Arizona snapped South Carolina’s streak of holding its opponent to 0-4 runs in 19 consecutive CWS games.

• Refsnyder’s 2-run shot ended South Carolina’s streak of not allowing a home run for 77 straight innings.

• South Carolina 1B/3-hole Christian Walker collected his 27th career CWS hit during Sunday’s game (one shy of tying the record, set by former UNC player Dustin Ackley).

June 23 Vids Include Both Coaches & ESPN’s Jess Mendoza…

UCLA pitcher Adam Plutko discusses his 2012 College World Series win over Stony Brook.

Stony Brook center fielder Travis Jankowski discusses his team’s loss to UCLA at the CWS and how the team will respond moving forward.

Stony Brook head coach Matt Senk discusses his team’s CWS opening loss to UCLA.

2012 CWS shirts & more are now at The Dugout!

They’re HERE!!  The Dugout in Omaha has official College World Series gear for each of the eight teams, including those Stony Brook Seawolves. If you want to be the first kid (no matter what age) on your block to have this year’s official CWS shirts, hats and more (both for individual teams or generic) click the red link and get to The Dugout’sweb site!

If you’re going to Omaha for the CWS you can also visit The Dugout. It’s right across the street from the home plate entrance to TD Ameritrade Park.

Arizona freshman pitcher Matt Troupe discusses his first College World Series appearance in Friday’s 4-3 win over Florida State.

Wildcats End CWS Drought…

Alex Mejia is the 2012 Pac-12 Player of the Year

PAC Is Back

Arizona returns to the College World Series for the first time since 2004 Under the leadership of 11-year head coach Andy Lopez. This will be the Wildcats’ sixteenth trip to Omaha in team history.

The Wildcats split the Pac-12 Conference title with UCLA (also in the 2012 CWS) and went undefeated in the regional and Super-regional tournaments by executing the club’s philosophy to throw strikes, play simple catch and throw and deliver timely hits.

Arizona hosted both a Regional and Super Regional en-route to Omaha. Amazingly, it was the first time in 20 years the Wildcats had hosted postseason games.

Head coach Andy Lopez

This is Coach Lopez’s fifth trip to the College World Series and the second in his eleven year career at Arizona. His 1992 Pepperdine team won the national championship. Lopez also coached the Florida Gators to two College World Series appearances. This one will be extra special because his two sons, Michael and David, will make the trip with him as walk-on reserves for Arizona.

Experience Beyond Their Years

With only one senior on the 34-man roster (outfielder Bobby Brown of San Diego) the team plays with the poise and experience of a team of veterans, having outscored opponents 61-20 in post-season play. Five of the Wildcats’ twelve juniors were picked up by Major League teams in the top nine rounds of the 2012 draft.

Arizona’s 15-man pitching staff consists of only 4 lefties. Only one player, Catcher Riley Moore, offers switch-hitting capabilities and thirteen men bat left-handed.

Hot Bats, Cool Fielding

Arizona’s bats have been the story as of late, hitting .420 as a team in postseason and .333 overall (4th in the NCAA). Quality defense at all positions and solid pitching back up the bats. It’s a potent cocktail that is sure to deliver some excitement in Omaha.

Roster Breakdown

… 1 Senior, 12 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 14 Freshmen
… home states: 14 from California … 12 from Arizona, 3 from Nevada, 2 from Texas and 1 each from Indiana, Minnesota and Washington.

They’re HERE!!  The Dugout in Omaha has official College World Series gear for each of the eight teams, including those Stony Brook Seawolves. If you want to be the first kid (no matter what age) on your block to have this year’s official CWS shirts, hats and more (both for individual teams or generic) click the red link and get to The Dugout’s web site!

If you’re going to Omaha for the CWS you can also visit The Dugout. It’s right across the street from the home plate entrance to TD Ameritrade Park.

Probable Lineup

1. Joey Rickard  CF Jr. R/L 6-1 185 Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS
… .326, HR, 31 RBIs, 16 Doubles, 18 SB*

2. Johnny Field  LF OF/INF So. R/R 5-10 194 Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS
… .383*, 3 HR, 43 RBIs, 67 Runs*, 11 SB, .490 OBP*, 7 Triples

3. Alex Mejia SS Jr. R/R 6-1 200 Sylmar, Calif./El Camino Real HS – Pac-12 Player of the Year
… .361, 3 HR, 52 RBIs, 12 Doubles, 6 Triples

4. Robert Refsnyder OF Jr. R/R 6-0 199 Laguna Hills, Calif./Laguna Hills HS – All Pac-12
… .354, 6 HR*, 61 RBIs*, .544 Slg. &, .445 OBP, 12 SB, 58 Runs, 19 Doubles, 6 Triples

5. Seth Mejias-Brean 3b Jr. R/R 6-2 210 Tucson, Ariz./Cienega HS – All Pac-12
… .366, HR, 57 RBIs, 21 Doubles, 10 SB, 55 Runs

6. Bobby Brown  DH Sr. L/R 6-3 200 San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo HS – All Pac-12
… .356, 4 HR, 57 RBIs, 7 Triples*, .555 Slg. %

7. Brandon Dixon  1B  So. R/R 6-1 211 Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley HS
… .252, 13 RBIs

8. Riley Moore  C Fr. S/R 6-3 190 Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos HS
… .292, HR, 38 RBIs

9. Trent Gilbert 2B Fr. L/R 6-1 180 Torrance, Calif./Torrance HS
… .280, 37 RBIs

Starting Pitching

Kurt Heyer RHP Jr. R/R 6-2 211 Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison HS – All Pac-12
… (12-2) 2.28 ERA, 7 CG, 138 IP*, 102 K*, .257 Opp. BA

Konner Wade RHP So. L/R 6-3 182 Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral HS
… (9-3), 4.49 ERA, 4 CG, 118 1/3 IP, 98 K, .246 Opp. BA

James Farris RHP So. R/R 6-2 213 Gilbert, Ariz./Highland HS
… (7-3) 4.18 ERA, 3 CG, 99 IP, 69 K

Bullpen

Mathew TroupeRHP Fr. R/R 6-2 189 Northridge, Calif./Chaminade College Prep
… (4-1), 3.90 ERA, 6 SV, 31 1/3 IP, 39 K, 17 BB, .281 Opp. BA

Stephen Manthei RHP Jr. R/R 6-1 210 Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS
… (6-4) 4.29 ERA, 23 App.*, 35 2/3 IP, 25 K, 16 BB

2012 CWS Bracket One

Kurt Heyer leads Arizona into this weekend's Tucson Super Regional. He was one of the top pitchers in the Pac-12 this season.

How do you compare two teams that have didn’t play each other or any mutual team this year? In the Tucson Super Regional this weekend, the St. John’s Red Storm will no doubt assume the underdog role this weekend in the best-of-3 series with the Arizona Wildcats.

What to expect

It’s a forgone conclusion that Arizona will have the edge considering daytime highs are forecasted to soar into the triple digits and they’ll be playing in their own backyard. Plus, they have plenty more experience versus big-time baseball schools. Arizona made it to the College World Series in 2004 and 14 times previously.

Given the east coast origin of St. John’s  (Queens, NY) over 2,500 miles away, we might expect St. John’s players to wilt in the hot desert sun. But let’s not forget how they got here: by defeating the #6-national seed North Carolina Tar Heels two games in a row in the regional tourney.

Arizona enters the series with a 41-17 record, having won 11 of their past 13 games.

St. John’s record of 40-21 is accented by a strong run in the postseason and seven straight wins over teams such as Notre Dame, Southern Florida and East Carolina in addition to the two wins over national seed North Carolina.

CLICK HERE to see the complete schedule of this weekend’s Super Regional games, including television assignments.

Who to watch

St. John’s: Frank Schwindel went 5-for-5 at the plate in last week’s Regional-clinching win over North Carolina. Danny Bethea’s game-ending home run gave the Red Storm a 5-4 upset win over North Carolina the day before that.

Matt Wessinger (.353, 6 HR, 47 RBIs .934 OPS), Sean O’Hare (.346, 3 HR, 42 RBIs) and Jeremy Baltz (.345, 8 HR, 51 RBIs, .968 OPS) are the top three hitters for the Red Storm offense.

The Red Storm pounded out 38 hits in three games in the Regional sweep in Chapel Hill. The Regional title is the first for Ed Blankmeyer’s program since 1980.

Arizona:  Kurt Heyer (12-3, 2.03 ERA) fired a complete game in the Regional-opening win over Missouri, while James Farris (7-3, 4.18 ERA) tossed his third complete game of the season in the 16-3 Regional-clincher over Louisville. Heyer leads the Pac-12 with seven complete games this season. Konnor Wade (8-3, 4.69 ERA) was an inning shy of a CG in Saturday’s victory over Louisville, meaning the Wildcats sent only four pitchers to the mound in last week’s three games.

The Wildcats scored 15, 16 and 16 runs in their three Regional games last week in Tucson. They totaled 58 hits in the process.

Johnny Field leads an offense that has a .333 batting average and .455 slugging percentage this season. He is batting .389 with 17 doubles, seven triples and three home runs.

The team batting average ranks fourth in the nation, while Arizona’s 34 triples ranks fourth and their 122 doubles ranks 19th.

Amazingly, last Friday’s game vs. Missouri was Arizona’s first home postseason game in 20 years.

About the series

The first two games of the best-of-3 series will be held at high noon (3 pm ET) Friday and Saturday on Tucson’s historic Hi Corbett Field. If a third game is necessary, first pitch will be at 1 p.m. (4 pm ET) on Sunday. Follow the progress of the game via Twitter feed on Collegebaseball360.com or at www.twitter.com/cb360updates.

Should the Red Storm win two of this weekend’s games, they will no doubt capture the attention of the media and fans at the College World Series in Omaha next week. St. John can count on a lot of red in the stands if they make it to Omaha, considering College World Series fans largely consist of residents of the Omaha area, known for being fervent supporters of the Nebraska Cornhuskers (aka Big Red) and CWS underdogs.

2012 Tucson Super Regional

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Cardinal, Wildcats Preparing For NCAA Bids…

Mark Appel (courtesy Gostanford.com)

No starter went fewer than six innings all weekend, and Friday night saw two sophomore starters battle in a dramatic fight to the finish. For Stanford, righty Mark Appel went eight innings with nine strikeouts, one walk, and no runs, and for Arizona, righty Kurt Heyer went nine innings with ten strikeouts, no walks, and no runs.

Appel got a no decision even though his team won, but he tied a career high in strikeouts, and had his second-longest outing of the year in the aces’ duel. Appel had excellent command of his change-up and his curveball all night, and the youngster continues to add diabolical off-speed pitches to compliment his mid-to-upper nineties fastball.

Heyer was fantastic as well, as his accuracy with his running two-seam fastball and rapidly sinking change-up propelled him through nine solid innings before the bullpen eventually gave up the loss.

The two pitchers will undoubtedly be Friday night starters next year as well, but, more importantly, they give each team a chance against any squad going in to the postseason.

Appel continues to raise eyebrows, particularly because he has gone against a ton of tremendous Friday starters this season – Sonny Gray, Taylor Jungmann, Gerrit Cole, and Sam Gaviglio to name a few – and he has continued to get better as the season has gone along.

Heyer doesn’t have Appel’s overpowering stuff, but he is very hard for hitters to hit squarely, and he hits the strike zone so often that batters cannot afford to sit back, because he will strike you out (he has 122 K’s already this year).

Starters Kyle Simon and Konner Wade were also fantastic for the Cats on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Simon went seven and one-third inning and kept the Stanford offense to three runs en route to a 7-3 win, stretching his record to 10-3 on the season. Wade threw six and one-third innings of shutout ball Sunday, gave up only one walk, and caused the Cardinal to hit into several double plays.

Kyle Simon improved to 10-3 with Saturday's win.

The Cats’ pitching rotation is solid top to bottom (perhaps it’s not just a coincidence that their names all start with the letter K), but the bullpen leaves some room for concern, particularly Bryce Bandilla, who got saddled with two losses this weekend. The setup man struggled with control in both of his appearance out of the pen, and even though he passed the ball to closer Matt Chaffee in both of those games, the damage was already done by the time Chaffee came in.

The Wildcat offense was uninspiring for most of the weekend, and except for DH Josh Garcia’s two-run home run and shortstop Alex Mejia’s 3-for-4 day on Saturday, the Cardinal pitchers had their way with the Wildcat offense, which currently has the second best team batting average in the nation.

One pitcher who had a bit of breakout weekend against the Wildcat offense was righty Jordan Pries, who had an exceptional start on Sunday for Stanford. Pries went seven innings with six strikeouts, and only gave up one run on a solo home run. The junior has gotten the loss or no decision in his last eight starts, but he finally looked like the Jordan Pries who beat Cal and Vanderbilt in the same week earlier this season. Pries threw all four of his pitches for strikes
and generally confused Wildcat hitters, showing the stuff that powered him to a no-hitter this past summer in the Cape Cod League.

The Cardinal also got an excellent performance from junior closer Chris Reed, who vultured two wins this weekend thanks to late-inning victories on Friday and Sunday. He extended his record to 6-3 this season (which nicely compliments his six saves), and he had great off-speed pitches as well as the nasty, breaking, mid-90s fastball that has been unhittable so far this season.

Tyler Gaffney

Stanford’s offense got a boost from sophomore Tyler Gaffney, who now has a 14-game hitting streak after reaching base in all three games this weekend, and right fielder Austin Wilson, who continues to show how much he has matured at the plate over the course of this season. The freshman hit two seeing-eye singles on Sunday, including the hit that scored the winning run, and he showed that he has adapted to college pitching by no longer swinging for the fences in every at-bat.

Sophomore centerfielder Jake Stewart also returned to the lineup after missing the last several weeks with appendicitis. Stewart was leading the team in extra-base hits and stolen bases when the illness struck, and the capable leadoff hitter will likely provide a big boost to an offense that has seen its stalwart hitter – shortstop Kenny Diekroeger – stuck deep in a rut. The sophomore went 0-for-3 on Sunday to drop his batting average below .300 for the first time all year after he was batting over .400 for the first third of the season.

Stanford ends up with a big series win to keep it at .500 in Pac-10 play, but this series was so close that it very easily could have gone in Arizona’s direction. Keep an eye on these two teams coming into the postseason – I expect them to both be two seeds in regionals, and they most certainly could upset a one seed due to their powerful pitching staffs.

2011 College World Series shirts are already in stock at The Dugout. Get yours at a discount now!

Right now, you can save 10% on everything – even sale items –  in stock at Dugouthats.com when you enter the coupon code CB360.

Save on 2011 College World Series apparel as well as authentic college baseball caps from teams like LSU, Texas, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UCLA, South Carolina, Miami and more at Dugouthats.com!

Arizona is the latest Pac 10 school to release its 2011 college baseball schedule.  The Wildcats open the season by hosting a three game series with North Dakota February 18-20.  They head to Long Beach State for a three game set the following weekend.

Other home non-conference action includes games with Rice (2), Utah Valley (3), Northern Colorado (3), San Francisco (3), New Mexico (2), and Alcorn State (3).

The Wildcats head to Las Vegas for a pair of non-conference games March 8-9 and then travel to Wichita, KS to play a two game set against Wichita State March 15-16.

CLICK HERE to see the complete 2011 Arizona baseball schedule

Arizona opens Pac 10 play March 25-26 with a three game series in Tempe, AZ against arch rival Arizona State.  They visit 2010 College World Series runner-up UCLA April 14-17.

The Wildcats’ home conference series are against Oregon State, California, USC, and Washington.  Their other road Pac 10 series are vs. Oregon, Washington State and Stanford.

Arizona will also host Arizona State in two non-conference mid week games on April 5 and 26.

Authentic college baseball caps are hard to find, unless you know where to look.  Find the hat of your favorite college baseball team at The Dugout, where you can also still get College World Series t-shirts and more!

Milestones & Upsets Highlight The First Week Of 2010

Max Willett (UNM photo)

2…wins by unranked New Mexico at #1 Texas in Austin.  The Lobos lost the season-opener on Friday, but came back with 3-1 and 6-5 wins Saturday and Sunday.  The wins are the first ever for New Mexico over a #1 ranked team.  Texas topped every national poll heading into the season.

.636…batting average by Lobo Max Willett in the 3-game series.  He had a 1.615 OPS with two doubles and a triple.  Willett also had the game-winning RBI in Saturday’s win.

23…runs by Washington State in Sunday’s 23-o rout of Seattle-the most runs by a Cougar team since 1999.  15 different Cougars had at least one hit.

5…Wazzou pitchers who combined in the shutout.

1,001…Career wins by LSU head coach Paul Mainieri after his Tigers’ 3-game weekend sweep of Centenary.  Mainieri hit the 1,000 win mark with Saturday’s 25-8 victory.

1,000…Career wins by Ohio State head coach Bob Todd after his Buckeyes won three games over the weekend in Jacksonville, FL.  OSU pounded Richmond 20-9 Sunday to get Todd to the milestone.

Danny Hall (GT photo)

901…career wins for Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall after a weekend sweep of Missouri State.

36…runs scored by Canisius in a doubleheader sweep of Illinois-Chicago Saturday at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, NC.  The Golden Griffins won the first game 20-4 and took the second game 16-10.

3…games Stanford won vs. 5th ranked Rice in Palo Alto.

11…runs Stanford scored in the 7th inning of game two of the series on Saturday.  The Cardinal was trailing 4-2 at the time.

5…pitchers Rice used during Stanford’s biggest inning in nearly two years.

265…wins at Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field by Oregon (and former Fullerton) head coach George Horton after Friday’s upset of the 4th ranked Titans.

6-5…the score of Friday’s Louisiana-Monroe win over Ole Miss.  It was the Rebels’ first season-opening loss since 1981.

Paul Karmas (St. John's photo)

1 & 15…combined hits and strikeouts by St. John’s starting pitchers Bruce Kern (5 IP-0H-0BB-8K) and Nick Cenatiempo (4 IP-1 H-0R-BB-7) in Friday and Saturday wins over New Orleans.

3…home runs by Red Storm 1B Paul Karmas in Sunday’s 31-6 win over UNO.

5…total runs by West Virginia in weekend losses to #17 Coastal Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia Tech.

9 1/2…runs a game scored by the Mountaineers last year-which ranked 12th in the nation.

14,922…fans who saw #2 Virginia win two of three games over #11 East Carolina at ECU’s Clark-LeClair Stadium.  Friday’s opening day crowd of 5,012 is the largest in stadium history.  Saturday’s crowd of 5,136 marked the first time ECU ever had back-to-back attendance of more than 5.000.

14…combined pitchers used by the Cavaliers (6) and Pirates (8) in Sunday’s 14-11 UVA series-clinching win.

3 2/3…innings pitched by UVA starter Cody Winiarski.  It was the longest stint for any of the 14 hurlers.  Virginia had 19 hits while East Carolina totaled 11.

4:11…the total time of the 9-inning game.

4:39…time of Lamar’s 5-4 win in 17-innings over Maine.  The game is the longest in Lamar history.  The two teams had played a 2 hour and 27 minute 9-inning game prior to the marathon.

12…strikeouts in 6 innings by Georgia Tech’s Jed Bradley in Sunday’s 13-0 win over Missouri State.  The lefty allowed just four hits and retired 6 of the first 8 batters he faced via strikeout.

13…strikeouts in 6 innings by Arizona freshman Kurt Heyer.  Heyer allowed just three hits and fanned 13 of the 22 batters he faced in Sunday’s win over Utah Valley in his collegiate debut.

2,500…all-time wins for the Arizona baseball program after Heyer’s performance Sunday.

Kevin Tokarski (ISU photo)

8…straight wins by UC Irvine pitcher Daniel Bibona after his 10 strikeout performance in a 5-1 win over Loyola Marymount.

3…the magic number during opening weekend for Illinois State’s Kevin Tokarski.  The redshirt sophomore tripled on the Redbirds’ first pitch of 2010.  He stole 3 bases with 3 doubles in his team’s first three games of the season.   Tokarski was a 2008 Freshman All-American, but missed last season due to wrist surgery.

8,803…total attendance of TCU‘s season-opening 3-game sweep of 2009 NCAA participant Sam Houston State.  The mark is a single-series TCU record.

.800…batting average by Horned Frog freshman Josh Elander.  He was 8-for-10 with a team-high six RBIs to start his career.

1…hit allowed in 6 innings on the mound by Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Todd McInnis.  The Southern Mississippi hurler didn’t give-up a hit until there were two outs in the 5th inning of Friday’s win over Northwestern State.  He exited the game after he reached his 75 pitch limit.

10 of 10…Pac 10 Conference teams that finished opening weekend with a winning record.  The Pac 10 is the only BCS conference that claimed that distinction over the first three days of the 2010 season.