Arizona’s nonconference schedule was put together long ago, with no idea of the potential quality of those opponents and by a coach no longer with the program. It’s turning out to be a gauntlet, one that could really pay off down the line.
The Wildcats (4-4) have already played four games against teams ranked by D1Baseball.com in either its preseason or current polls, going 2-2. There are three more on the horizon this weekend in the Frisco College Baseball Classic.
The UA opens play Friday against No. 25 Dallas Baptist, one of 13 remaining unbeaten teams. Another on that list, No. 16 Alabama, is up Saturday and then Sunday’s finale is against No. 25 Indiana.
“This is huge for us,” UA coach Chip Hale said earlier this week. “The RPI world is a real deal. Win, lose or draw. These teams are all good competition.”
All three of those opponents could go down as Quad 1 games on Arizona’s resume, as could the three it played to open the season against Northeastern, the three last weekend at San Diego and Wednesday’s 6-1 loss at unbeaten TCU. That’s in addition to Pac-12 games against Quad 1 foes, most notably Oregon State, and a trio of midweek contests against Grand Canyon.
By the end of the year the UA could have one of the best Strength of Schedule ratings in the country, but that will only go so far. The Wildcats have to win a fair number of those games, and so far it’s been a mixed bag.
In taking two of three from Northeastern the UA hit the ball well from 1 to 9 in the order. At San Diego, where it lost two of three, it averaged 7.3 runs but also struck out 44 times in 27 innings.
The Wildcats then fanned 19 more times in Wednesday’s loss at TCU, and for the season are whiffing 10.6 times per game.
Credit is due to the pitchers Arizona has faced so far, including former UA right-hander Josh Randall (now at San Diego) and TCU lefty Braeden Sloan, who had 13 Ks in six innings. But the Wildcat batters have plenty of their own blame.
“Obviously when you’re striking out that much you’re chasing a little bit,” Hale said. “You got to question your 2-strike approach a bit. We talked about that.”
When Arizona puts the ball in play, though, hitting .309 with an .874 OPS. The Wildcats are hitting .354 with runners in scoring position.
The pitching has been a mixed bag, with two really good starters—lefty Jackson Kent will go Friday and righty Clark Candiotti on Saturday—but after that it’s been hit and miss, with more on the miss side. The Sunday starting spot is TBA after Anthony ‘Tonko’ Susac only retired one of seven batters at San Diego and then allowed two runs with four hits in an inning of relief at TCU.
Cam Walty allowed an unearned run over 5.2 innings after Susac last Sunday, helping Arizona with its 10-9 comeback win. He’s the best option for this weekend’s open slot but could be needed for long relief earlier than that.
“The decision to start Tonko over Cam was a very hard one,” Hale said. “And it was really based on who would be better coming into a game than having to get their whole routine of starting. We always know Cam is sort of that guy was going to be able to give us length.”
Arizona went 4-0 in Frisco in 2021, then in 2022 opened the Hale era with a 3-0 performance in a tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Last year the Wildcats went 3-1 in the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale and Mesa.
