Arizona was one of the last teams to make the NCAA Tournament after making a deep run to the Pac-12 Tournament title game. But, it was a short stay in the postseason with the Wildcats going 0-2 and falling to Santa Clara 9-3 ending UA's season.

“I want to say I am proud of these guys. They worked their tail off all year to get to this point and to play in this tournament was not easy. We went through a lot of ups and downs, but they kept fighting just like tonight, head coach Chip Hale said.

"To line out on the last out is pretty typical of our season. I think we swung the bats pretty well and our pitchers were the reason why we were able to get in the tournament. They turned it around but just could not get it down these two games. We didn’t play like that down the stretch. We are disappointed but that doesn’t diminish what this group has done for the university."

The Wildcats trailed early in the game falling behind 3-0 after the first three innings of the game. But, the major blow came in the sixth and seventh inning where the Broncos put up five runs on the board pushing the game to 8-0 before Arizona scored its first run.

These two teams were supposed to start the game at noon (MST), put do to rain storms, the game got pushed back to 6 p.m. (MST). Well, the rain delay became a symbolic of Arizona's offense that seemed to be caught in a rain delay throughout the two games going 2-for-24 with runners on base. The Wildcats averaged 3.5 runs with a batting average of .188 with 13 hits.

Although the Wildcats' offense had its issues, at the end of the day, it was the pitching of Arizona that fell short in this postseason. As a team, UA gave up 21 runs, 28 hits and surrendered 11 extra base hits.

“We are fine and the program is fine. We are going to do a lot of work. Obviously, when you don’t get to where you want to get, which is Omaha and winning national championships, you are always searching for what you need," said Hale on the state of the program. "We will search the portal high and low, and we will reevaluate our coaching. That’s my job. I am the leader of this staff and I have to decide and make tough decisions. We have to get better in all areas. The portal is open, and we have already been very active in it and see how that goes.”

After making it to the Pac-12 Title game, Arizona dropped 3-straight games giving up 26 runs in three games. The Wildcats end the season with a team ERA over 5.97, which was worse than the season prior where the team finished with an ERA of 5.07 as a group.

Although the Wildcats squeaked into the postseason, there is definitely cause for concern when you see the regression of Arizona's pitching of the last couple of season.

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