The fun clubhouse environment has paid dividends this season for the Wildcats, who, with Friday’s 9-3 win against Oklahoma State at TD Ameritrade Park, improved to 5-0 in elimination games this postseason.
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The loss means Oklahoma State will play Arizona again on Saturday, with the victor advancing to the CWS Finals, and the loser being eliminated.
The Arizona Wildcats have faced elimination in the NCAA Baseball Tournament five times, but, like Elton John, they’re still standing.
And while the Pokes’ bats were cooling, the Wildcats tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth after a J.R. Davis throwing error to first kept the inning alive while also scoring Oliva, then Arizona’s Ryan Aguilar hit an RBI single to make the score 6-2.
If a run and an RBI wasn’t enough for Gibbons, he added another RBI in the fourth with a sac fly to right field that brought home Salazar for the second time to put Arizona up 4-0 after three and a half innings.
The Wildcats would tack on three more runs in the ninth making the score 9-2.
Who’s hot: Gibbons and Matijevic had three hits apiece Friday. That allowed one run to score and extended the inning.
The Cowboys got two runs in the fourth inning. He allowed two hits and one run in five innings. He talked to UA coach Jay Johnson, pitching coach Dave Lawn and trainer Leanna Olivar for several minutes, threw a couple of warmup pitches and exited the game.
The Cowboys are trying to reach the final series for the first time in 26 years and, alongside TCU, are looking to become the first Big 12 team to be in the final series since Texas in 2009. However, JJ Matijevic slashed a two-out single through the left side to deliver the game’s first run and give the Cowboys their first deficit in eight NCAA Tournament games this season. Few predicted the team would get this far, but Arizona is just one win from returning to the CWS championship series for the first time since winning the title in 2012. Beckwith is just the fourth pitcher in the last 25 years with two complete games in one CWS. “We’ll bounce back and be a better ballclub tomorrow”.
Oklahoma State’s pair of runs came on following a two-out walk issued by Ginkel.
The Wildcats will start ace Nathan Bannister against OSU’s third pitcher Jensen Elliott.
However, the Cowboys got on board in the bottom of the inning when designated hitter Conor Costello hit an RBI triple.
Arizona got started quickly, putting runners on first and second with nobody out in the first with a leadoff walk and a single.
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“We’ll come out tomorrow and play better; that’s all there is to it”, Oklahoma State Coach Josh Holliday said.
