Arizona looked like a different team Sunday than it did during a 12-3 loss to Ole Miss Saturday night at Hi Corbett Field.
The Wildcats (45-16) looked much more like themselves at the plate, and it proved to be the difference in the finale of the Tucson Super Regional. UA is headed to the College World Series for the 18th time after the offense again exploded for double-digit runs in a 16-3 win over the Rebels.
It marks the second time UA has advanced to the CWS in Omaha under head coach Jay Johnson with the Wildcats advancing to the championship series back in 2016.
Johnson's team leaned on what it does best to punch its ticket to Omaha. His offense has been among the best in baseball this season, and Sunday the bats came alive once more with nine of the 11 players to have an at-bat coming through with at least one hit.
For the Wildcats, which felt snubbed out of a postseason spot back in 2019 when the last NCAA Tournament took place, this berth in the College World Series feels much deserved.
"This is the tied-for-first happiest day of my life, hands down," Johnson said. "I'm so proud of this team. I'm so proud of this program. I'm so proud of the players, the coaches, the administration. There's so many people that contributed to this."
Arizona has had a knack for bouncing back from poor performances throughout the season, and the team was confident it would be able to do the same in Sunday's winner-take-all matchup with Ole Miss.
The Wildcats weren't completely disappointed with their performance in Saturday's loss, but felt that better things would be coming Sunday because of their ability to overcome adversity. That proved to be the case with first baseman Branden Boissiere leading the way.
He capped a stellar weekend with four more hits and five RBIs in Sunday's win. Boissiere finished the Tucson Super Regional with 10 hits to guide UA to its victory. He had two doubles during Sunday's game.
"It just shows that not one person has to get it done during the game," Boissiere said of Arizona's offensive explosion Sunday. "One person could have a down game then another person can pick them up, so you never know when the big hit's gonna come. It could come from anyone in the lineup.
"I just think our offense is elite, and we have a lot of really good hitters even on the bench as well."
While the offense will get the attention after Sunday's win it was the pitching staff that helped give the team its opportunity to pull away in the fourth. Rather than go with a more experienced starter, Johnson decided to open the game with freshman Dawson Netz who was making just his second start of the season.
Netz allowed just one base runner in two-plus innings of work. The Wildcats then went to another freshman as right-hander TJ Nichols entered the game in the third and cruised during his time on the mound.
Nichols finished his portion of the game after throwing 5.1 innings, and he shined in the biggest moment of his career with seven strikeouts and just three hits allowed. The lone run he gave up came on a home run from Jacob Gonzalez in the eighth inning.
"I was supposed to go after Dawson, and I was supposed to go one time through the lineup," Nichols said. "He [Johnson] kept me in there. I'm just grateful he kept me in there. I was given the opportunity to succeed, and I did my best. Yeah, it was great."
Johnson said his plan was to use seven different pitchers during Sunday's game with Netz and Nichols just being the first of that group. Instead, Netz retired the first six batters in order pushing Johnson to adjust his plan before a barrage of runs allowed him to keep Nichols on the mound longer than expected.
The UA head coach joked that he liked how it turned out on the field better than he planned in his head going into Sunday's matchup.
Arizona drew first blood Sunday, which it had not done the first two games, with a single from third baseman Tony Bullard that brought in Boissiere. Ole Miss (45-22) tied it up in the top of the third inning, but the Wildcats went on to score 12 runs in their three ensuing opportunities at the plate to put the game out of reach by the bottom of the fifth.
In all, the Wildcats had 10 extra base hits, including seven doubles, and 20 hits overall tying a season high. Freshman designated hitter Jacob Berry (17) and right fielder Ryan Holgate (10) accounted for Arizona's two home runs in the game.
Arizona will now face fourth-seeded Vanderbilt next weekend to open up the College World Series in Omaha.
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