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Arizona Baseball advances to the Super Regionals

By Eric Townsend

Omaha, NE - JUNE 28: A general view of the Arizona Wildcats helmet rack in the dugout prior to game two of the College World Series Championship Series against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on June 28, 2016 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 28: A general view of the Arizona Wildcats helmet rack in the dugout prior to game two of the College World Series Championship Series against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on June 28, 2016 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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TUCSON, AZ – Following their 5-2 win over UC Santa Barbara, Arizona Baseball (43-15, 21-9) advances to the Super Regionals the winner of Ole Miss/Southern Miss.

It was a great weekend for Arizona Baseball as the Wildcats swept UCSB in two games, and beat in-state foe Grand Canyon, to advance to the schools’ 19th Super Regional.

With Arizona awaiting to learn their fate in the Super Regionals, first, let’s recap how the Wildcats have gotten to this point…

Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Wildcats /

Arizona Wildcats

Game 1 of the Tucson Regional: 

Arizona 12
Grand Canyon 6

  • TJ Nichols picks up the win to improve to 5-3 on the year after pitching two-and-one-third with two hits, one earned run, and a strikeout.
  • Wildcats explode for 12 runs and 17 hits.
  • Tony Bullard and Kobe Kato each finish 3-5 from the plate with a combined five RBI’s.
  • Tanner O’Tremba and Bullard each had a home run.

Game 2:

Arizona 4
UCSB 0

  • Garrett Irvin aka “Gary” pitched an absolute gem, throwing a complete game shut out while striking out 10 batters on three hits to improve to 9-2.
  • The offense wasn’t quite as dominant, however still did enough to get the job done.
  • Bullard leads all batters by going 3-4 from the plate with two RBI’s and a run scored.
  • Bullard blasts another home run, his fifth on the season.

Game 3:

Arizona 5
UCSB 2

  • Arizona uses six different pitchers in this one, all helping the Cats to pick up the win.
  • Freshman RHP Chandler Murphy improves to 7-0 after pitching five marvelous innings, surrendering just one run on seven hits, while striking out three.
  • Vince Vannelle picked up his eighth save of the season after coming in to lock things down in the ninth inning.
  • Ryan Holgate and Nik McClaughry go 2-3 and 1-3 from the plate respectively, each batting in two RBI’s to lead the Wildcats’ offense. O’Tremba goes 2-4 with an RBI.

With Arizona Baseball winning their 19th Regional Title and advancing to the Super Regionals, the Wildcats will wait to see who they face next weekend.

Here are the two teams in waiting…

Ole Miss (43-20, 18-12)

  • Conference: SEC
  • Head Coach: Mike Bianco (881–515–1)
  • Ole Miss is a solid program with six Super Regional appearances (potentially soon-to-be seven) under Bianco, with a lone College World Series appearance coming in 2014.

Southern Miss (40-20, 22-9)

  • Conference: Conference USA
  • Head Coach: Scott Berry (435–235–1)
  • Scott has built a solid program at Southern Miss, leading the Eagles to four, first-place finishes in the Conference USA, and seven Regional appearances in 12 seasons. However, they have yet to make it to the Super Regionals and will look to do so against Ole Miss in a do-or-die situation.

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