Coming off of a series victory over the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, Oregon State, Arizona will look for another series victory when it travels to face Oregon in what will be the final regular season series of 2022.
The Wildcats (35-18, 16-11 Pac-12) will go into Eugene not only with the goal of winning the series but also to attempting to improve their spot within the conference standings. With the top five teams in the conference each separated by one game, the final series of the season will prove to be a big one for seeding in the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament in Scottsdale next week.
Arizona currently sits in the fourth spot, three games behind the league-leading Beavers, but could move up into the second position depending on how things shake out this weekend. The Wildcats would open the tournament next Wednesday morning should they end up as either the fourth or fifth seed.
No matter how the weekend shapes up, Arizona head coach Chip Hale feels good about his team heading into its final series.
“When you’re playing the number one or number two team, depending on what rankings you look at, and you’re able to win two out of three I think you have to feel good about that,” Hale said. “Guys really battled. We got some good pitching in the second two days. I thought games two and three we pitched them really well.”
With the pitching staff having struggled in the first game, the Cats were able to bounce back, thanks to a stellar performance by the bullpen, and win the next two games to help their chances of having a chance at the second seed in the conference tournament.
The team will have to rely heavily on its starters to go deeper into games, particularly a player such as TJ Nichols, who has battled inconsistency during his sophomore campaign.
“It’s up and down,” Hale said. “I mean obviously a sophomore pitching on Friday nights is not easy. We talk about experience. It’s a difficult spot to put a guy in. At times I think the moment has gotten him, and at times he’s battled through it and pitched really well for us. We’re looking for that coming down the stretch here, especially on Thursday, to give us that quality start. Give us six innings and less than three runs, and we’ll have a good chance to win the game.”
