It will technically go down as a series sweep for Arizona, but to only describe it as such is doing the odd weekend in Tucson a disservice. There were plenty of things that took place at Hi Corbett Field that you won't be seeing again anytime soon.
For starters, a rare monsoon-like May storm that dumped a record amount of rain on Tucson started up Saturday evening forcing Arizona and USC to halt the second game of a planned three-game series. At the time the Trojans were up 3-1 in the bottom of the second inning with UA loading the bases just before the umpires decided it was too dangerous to play with lightning in the area.
An extended delay forced the game into Sunday, but with the third game of the series scheduled to be televised by Pac-12 Network at 12:05 p.m. there was a problem. The Pac-12 Network wanted no part of its coverage being interrupted meaning UA had to scrap the idea of an early-morning start for the continuation of Saturday's game at the outside chance that it went too long.
Instead the plan was to play two Sunday with the continuation of Saturday night's game starting at 12:05 p.m. to avoid any issue before playing the third game of the series 45 minutes after the completion of Game 2.
Sunday's first game went off without a hitch. UA bounced back from its 3-1 deficit by using a strong pitching performance from Quinn Flanagan plus some impressive at bats from its other young players.
Eventually, the Wildcats (24-24, 12-14 Pac-12) were able to claim an 8-5 victory securing a series win and setting the table for a sweep of USC once the third game rolled around Sunday afternoon. However, the weekend storm had other plans and as lightning started to strike close enough to the stadium to become worrisome and another halt in play took place.
Two hours later at around 4:15 p.m. the whole thing was called off with USC fearing starting the game and then having to stop again would put its travel schedule in jeopardy. The word Saturday was that USC had opted to take a bus back home rather than a scheduled 7:10 p.m. MST flight back to Los Angeles out of Tucson International Airport once it was decided the second game was going to be delayed.
Once the delay took place Sunday there was a change of heart, and since there was still time for the Trojans to make their flight in time, the original plan was back on and the third game of the series was cancelled.
Got all that?
In the end it added up to a two-game series sweep for Arizona, but in a time when everything matters and comes into play for the Wildcats' hopes of a spot in the postseason not playing the third game hurts.
"We were prepared to stay and play as late as we could," UA head coach Jay Johnson said after the enter situation came to an end. "It's too bad that they couldn't do that. ... We played through driving rain storms in Corvallis and Seattle over the past couple years. It's not something that we have control over."
Johnson's solution to get a 56th game on the schedule will now be to play Sam Houston State twice Monday. The original game against the Bearkats is already on the schedule as a replacement game for a contest against Xavier that was rained out earlier in the year, but of all the options on the table playing Sam Houston State twice made the most sense.
The other options included playing a double header against Penn State, a team UA will face on the road later this week, or travel early to play Gonzaga ahead of next weekend's road series against Washington State.
Sam Houston State (29-20, 18-9 Southland) is coming off a Sunday doubleheader on the road against Southeastern Louisiana but still agreed to play UA twice Monday. The first game will begin at 5 p.m. and go the full nine innings while the second game will start 45 minutes after the first one ends but will only go seven innings.
The two teams were originally scheduled to square off at 7 p.m.
It's not perfect but the little things can come into play for a team trying to make the postseason, and with UA putting together a solid finish to the season Johnson doesn't want to waste any opportunities to help his team's chances of playing beyond the end of this month.
"Our RPI's in the low 60s I think now, we have six games on the road and you get 1.3 for a road win," he said. "There would be a long way to go and no guarantees, but I think you still see a team playing hard, competing really hard and some young players getting better and playing the best that they've played.
"We want to do what we can from this point forward to give them every chance possible. I'm disappointed because I really wanted to play tonight [Sunday], and it was definitely in our best interest to play tonight to the point of trying to do whatever we could. But, you know, it didn't happen."
Arizona's players understand how important playing Sunday afternoon's game would have been and for a team that is building some momentum it's another hurdle the group will have to get over.
"Very disappointing," freshman Branden Boissiere said about not being able to finish out the series against USC. "We had a lot of energy going into the last game. We wanted the sweep this weekend and we all felt like we could have done it. ... In our heads we swept them because they didn't want to play us."
Tarps were on the field longer than players over the weekend, and to make matters worse about 30 minutes after the final game of the series was called off Sunday there was nothing but sunshine raining down on Hi Corbett Field.
Baseball is a funny game.
