CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—After getting blown out on Friday, Arizona could have called it a season. Getting to the Super Regionals wasn’t the ultimate goal, but it was pretty high on the list.
Same goes for Saturday, after the Wildcats fell behind in the 2nd inning, with another starting pitcher getting pulled super early. And again in the 4th inning. And once more in the 7th.
So many opportunities to pack it in. But also so many chances to respond, which is what the UA did each time.
Arizona came back three times, the last a 4-run rally in the bottom of the 7th, to beat North Carolina 10-8 in Game 2 of its Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium. That forces a third game to determine a spot in the College World Series, set for 9:06 a.m. PT Sunday on ESPN2 for a trip to Omaha.
“These guys are very resilient,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “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.”
Less than 24 hours after getting crushed 18-2 in the series opener, Arizona (43-19) put up 16 hits—the most against UNC this season—and scored in six of eight innings. The Wildcats needed all those runs because each time it took a lead the Tar Heels (46-14) would find a way to tie it or go ahead.
But so would Arizona. Down 2-1 in the 2nd it immediately tied the game, then after UNC went up 4-2 in the 4th it again knotted the score in the bottom of the frame. The Wildcats then built a 6-4 margin only to see the Heels score four in the top of the 7th off Casey Hintz, who before that had been nearly perfect.
But once again, the UA came back, scoring four of its own to retake the lead for good.
“We’re willing to do whatever to get there and we believe in all the guys in the locker room,” said senior first baseman Tommy Splaine, who was 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBI and also made a diving stop to end one UNC rally. “Just one game at a time, one pitch at a time, we’re ready.
Senior Raul Garayzar lasted only nine batters, leaving the bases loaded in the 1st but then giving up a 2-run homer in the 2nd and failing to record an out. Garrett Hicks prevented any further damage that inning but ran into his own trouble in the 4th. Hintz came in and allowed an inherited run but then faced the minimum in the 5th and 6th.
Splaine’s homer in the bottom of the 4th was part of a 2-run frame to tie it at 4, with the tying run scoring on an infield single from Aaron Walton. Walton was 3 for 5 and is 11 for 20 in the last four games.
Arizona went up 5-4 in the 5th on a 2-out single by Splaine, then added to the lead in the 6th on another 2-out hit from Maddox Mihalakis. The Wildcats were 7 for 15 with two outs, driving in six runs.
“Sometimes that is the most vulnerable pitchers get,” Hale said. “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.”
Hintz put the first two on in the 7th, the second on a single to right that Brendan Summerhill couldn’t track down, before retiring the next two, and was ahead 0-2 on UNC’s Tyler Bass. But after a waste pitch he left a hanging slider over the plate that Bass crushed into the next beyond left field for a go-ahead 3-run homer.
“Hintz was rolling,” Hale said. “That’s how Casey pitches, and he made one bad pitch, and Bass took advantage of it. And that’s just great hitting.”
UNC followed that with two more singles before Hintz was pulled for Tony Pluta, who hadn’t allowed a run (inherited or not) since April 1. Arizona’s junior closer was shaky to start, throwing a wild pitch and hitting a batter before issuing a bases-loaded walk to make it 8-6.
“It was pretty tough, the crowd was really getting into it,” Pluta said. “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.”
That’s because the UA immediately matched UNC’s 4-spot, doing so against one of the Heels’ top relievers in freshman Walker McDuffie. Andrew Cain drew a leadoff walk to start the rally, and with one out Easton Breyfogle singled.
That brought up Summerhill, who inside-outed a ball just inside the third base bag for an RBI double. A wild pitch would score Breyfogle to tie it, then with two down Mason White and Adonys Guzman drew walks to force a pitching change ahead of Mihalakis.
Lefty Walker Boaz’s first offering was lined into right-center to score Summerhill and White to cap the comeback, causing Hale to get emotional from his viewpoint on the field.
“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,” he said. “It makes me really proud.”
Pluta would finish the game, stranding two in the 8th and one in the 9th to get the win. He threw a career-high 52 pitches but said he’d be available for Sunday.
Arizona will be playing in its fourth winner-take-all Super Regional game, coming out on top in 2004 (at Long Beach State) and 2021 (home vs. Ole Miss). Freshman Smith Bailey will start, making it three consecutive outings for him with a championship on the line.
“He’s not a freshman anymore, he’s a sophomore now,” Hale said of Bailey, who has allowed two runs in 17.1 innings over his last three starts. “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.”
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