Arizona Baseball enters the Collegiate Baseball Top 25
TUCSON, AZ- For the first time in 2019, the Arizona Baseball team enters the Collegiate Baseball Top 25, checking in at No. 24 overall!
Where’s the love? Well, apparently it’s in Tucson, because after a four-game sweep over the weekend, the Arizona Baseball team enters the Top 25 for the first time in 2019.
Just weeks ago, as the Cats were prepping for their season, the came into the year ranked No. 32. Now after a dominating, four-game sweep of UMass Lowell over the weekend, the Cats are now up to No. 24.
Arizona Wildcats
Collegiate Baseball comes out with new rankings every week, and on Monday, the Wildcats were on their list!
Also worth noting, is that three Pac-12 schools were also on the list. Appearing on the Collegiate Baseball Top 25, were; No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 Stanford, and the defending NCAA champion, No. 7 Oregon State.
While Arizona being on the list is certainly a great accomplishment, this is just a starting point. Despite being 4-0 to begin the year, the Wildcats were largely untested in that first series.
Their big test starts this week when they travel to Houston to take on Rice on Wednesday, followed by a three-game series against Houston starting on Friday.
So far, the Cats look like they have the bats to remain competitive, but a lot will be contingent on their starting rotation and bullpen support this year.
Luckily, head coach Jay Johnson was able to get some work from nearly all his pitchers this past weekend, but early on, it appears junior Randy Labaut will be their ace, with the rest of their pecking order a bit up for grabs.
Andrew Nardi and Quinn Flanagan also got starts this weekend along with Bryce Collins, but it’ll interesting to see if coach Johnson will change anything up this week.
All looked quite solid, but who seemed to impress me the most were; freshman George Arias, Jr. and junior college transfer, Vince Vannelle.
Arias is the son of Arizona Baseball legend George Sr., who has the second-most home runs in a single season with 23. The local pitching product appeared in just one inning on Sunday, but faced four batters, striking the first batter, holding the Riverhawks to zero hits, while walking one.
Vanelle came on in relief for Collins on Saturday, throwing three impressive innings, surrendering just two hits and two walks, while striking out three batters en route to his first win on the year.
Moving forward, Arizona is going to need all the help they can get on the mound if they are going to compete in the tough Pac-12 conference! One thing we do know, is that winning the games you’re expected to is a great start!
Listen to coach Johnson following the sweep of UMass Lowell!
On Arizona Baseball. light. More
At Zona Zealots, we’re excited about the return of Arizona Baseball and are more than happy to see the Cats in the Top 25 once again! Bear Down, Arizona!