The Arizona baseball team continued to slide in the national and Pac-12 rankings after being swept for the second straight weekend, this time by No. 14 Stanford. The Wildcats were swept by Utah April 20–22.
The UA, which is 9-12 in conference play and 27-15 overall, is now tied with the Utes for No. 6 in the Pac-12, while dropping to No. 19 in the national rankings. The team also got swept early in the season against No. 1 Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon.
The Wildcats’ offense has gone uncharacteristically cold during the current downslide as it scored only six runs all weekend against Stanford and 10 runs against Utah.
Speaking to how explosive the team’s offense has been until its current cold stretch, the UA still leads the Pac-12 in several major offensive categories, including batting average (.315), hits (462), RBIs (298) and runs (342), which is 100 more than Utah who ranks at No. 2.
UA starters Cameron Ming, J.C. Cloney and Cody Deason performed admirable in the sweep against Stanford but did not get the usual run support needed. The team’s bullpen, which has been shaky at times this season, did not allow an earned run the entire weekend.
Despite its substantial fall in the standings, the UA has the sixth-toughest schedule in the country and is ranked 12th in RPI. The Pac-12 has improved considerably since last season and will likely see five or six teams make the NCAA Tournament in June.
The recent outing against Santa Clara should bode well for Arizona as Monday’s game saw them put up 16 runs. The re-emergence of their offense will be key as they move forward and battle for a spot in a regional.
The thoughts of the Wildcats hosting a regional are slim and fading away, but if they can find their bats, they could get back into the conversation. There is plenty of time left; however, Arizona can ill afford another rough stretch like they’ve had the past three weeks.
The Wildcats have the opportunity to get back on track this weekend as they return home to take on the Washington Huskies beginning Friday night at 7 p.m. at Hi Corbett Field.
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