Friday night was the first time that Arizona host a regional in the Chip Hale era after earning the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA postseason and the excitement level from the Wildcats fans was high with a total attendance of 8,798, which goes down as the largest attendance for a UA home game in Hi Corbett Field history.

However, the excitement for the game ended in sorrow as Arizona struggled on the mound in the sixth inning giving up three runs on two hits that was highlighted by a 3-run double. The Wildcats went on to fall 9-4 to GCU putting them in an elimination game on Saturday against Dallas Baptist.

Arizona rolled with pitcher Clark Candiotti to start the first game of the regional and understandably so given that he finished the regular season with an ERA of 3.11 to go along with his 7-3 record. But unfortunately for the Wildcats, that wasn't the Candiotti they got as he struggled going six innings where he allowed just four hits, but three walks and five earned.

The issues of putting batters away, which led to 94 pitches and a strike percentage of 59% and a massive sixth inning for GCU where one swing of the bat changed the momentum of the night.

Still it wasn't just Candiotti that struggled, Arizona's bullpen gave up four runs and allowed a run in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. As a staff, the Wildcats ended the game giving up eight hits and seven walks.

On the offensive side of the field, Arizona didn't have a bad day putting up four runs, but the Wildcats still couldn't get the big hit leaving seven runners on base. The big blow came in the bottom half of the seventh inning when Maddox Mihalakis struckout swinging with two men on and two outs to come up empty.

At the end of the day, timely hitting and free passes hurt Arizona and has caused them to move to the elimination bracket in the Tucson Regional and face Dallas Baptist at 1 p.m. (MST) with the game being streamed on ESPN+.

****

> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona baseball fans because the Wildcats Own Omaha

> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel

> FOLLOW us on Twitter

> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)

> LIKE us on Facebook

> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)