With six straight conference games at home against a pair of beatable opponents, the opportunity was there for Arizona to move up the Big 12 standings and at least assure itself a spot in next month’s conference tournament. But as has been the case much of this season, the Wildcats failed to take advantage.
The UA lost 8-4 to BYU on Saturday afternoon at Hi Corbett Field, remaining winless in home Big 12 series. The Wildcats (16-26, 7-14) went 2-4 on the homestand and sit in 11th place in the league
with three weekends to go.
“We’re down the road here a ways, but all we can do is try to get better,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “We’ve had time enough to get used to all the injuries we’ve had and the guys have gotten a chance to play. I would have thought … I mean we played so beautifully on Thursday night.”
After winning 6-0 in the opener, the UA was outscored 13-5 the rest of the series. On Saturday it had 10 hits but also left 11 runners on base, going 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
Arizona’s runs came on a 2-run home run by Caleb Danzeisen, an RBI single by Mathis Meurant and a sac fly by Meurant, a senior from France who was 2 for 3 playing in front of his family for the first time in the US.
The defense was better than on Friday, when it produced a season-high four errors, but the pitching was a struggle from the outset. Smith Bailey, who won Big 12 and NCBWA Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out 15 last weekend, gave up three runs in the top of the 1st and allowed five runs and nine hits over 4.1 innings.
“He definitely he did not have the stuff he had the other night versus Kansas State, and when he did make a mistake they definitely were ready for it,” Hale said.
Arizona, which has matched its most losses under Hale, has 11 games left in the regular season starting with Tuesday at GCU. The Wildcats then visit first-place Kansas, one of two Big 12 road series left along with the final home series May 8-10 against Houston.
The top 12 teams make the Big 12 Tournament. Arizona is currently a half-game head of Texas Tech for the last spot in the field and is within three games in the loss column of four other teams.
“We need to tighten our game up,” Hale said. “It’s a team game that is very much individual, which is a hard thing to say. As a team you can be really good, but if you do not take care of your individual part of your game, whether it’s your swing, whether it’s defense or throwing strikes … it’s just like pulling on the chain for one of those links get screwed up. It’s tough. And I think we’ve got a lot of guys that need to tighten up their game to be successful.”
