2016 CWS: Pitching Keeps Arizona Alive Again

OMAHA–Facing elimination Wednesday, Arizona fell back on its familiar formula of pitching, defense and mental toughness. And, for the fourth time during the NCAA tournament with their season on the line, the Wildcats advanced to play another game.

Powered by strong outings from lefthanders J.C. Coloney (7 IP, 5 H, 0 R) and Cameron Ming (2 IP, 1 H 0 R), three double plays and a three-run third inning, Arizona defeated UC Santa Barbara, 3-0, in an elimination game of the College World Series. With the victory, Arizona advances to play Oklahoma State, needing wins on both Friday and Saturday to move on to the CWS finals. UCSB, meanwhile, sees its Cinderella run through the tournament come to a close.

Arizona’s pitching staff has been critical to its success all season–the Wildcats have a 3.30 team ERA–but it has been even better this week in Omaha. Through three games, the Wildcats have allowed just two runs and committed one error. They are the fourth team in CWS history to hold opponents to two or fewer runs in their first three games, and the first to do so since Arizona State in 1972.

GAME AT A GLANCE

Turning Point: Arizona scratched out the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Aguilar in the third inning. Following him to the plate was Jared Oliva, who launched a two-out, two-run home run to left field, giving the Wildcats an early three-run advantage. The Hero: Lefthander J.C. Cloney became the latest Arizona starter to excel on the big stage of the CWS. He threw seven scoreless innings, limiting UC Santa Barbara to five hits and two walks. You Might Have Missed: UCSB righthander Trevor Bettencourt entered the game in the fourth inning and retired the first 13 batters he faced before Bobby Dalbec ended that streak with a one-out single in the eighth. Bettencourt finished the game with seven strikeouts in five scoreless innings, keeping the Gauchos in the game. Box Score Highlights

Coach Jay Johnson said pitching and defense has been at the heart of Arizona’s success.

“You just have to take care of the ball,” Johnson said. “It’s talked about over and over again. Everybody likes offense. Everybody likes scoring runs. But the reality is the guys that are on the mound are on the biggest scholarships and they’re paid to get guys out. And you’ve got to have it.”

Against UCSB, Arizona certainly had it. Cloney had been knocked around in his last outing, giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings against Louisiana-Lafayette in regionals. Because Arizona swept Mississippi State in two games, Cloney wasn’t needed in that series, giving him more than two weeks off before Wednesday. But he didn’t mind the time off, calling Arizona’s super regional victory “the best thing we’ve done all year.”

Cloney was ready when he was called upon Wednesday. He carved through UCSB’s lineup with a mid-80s fastball, slider and changeup. It wasn’t premium stuff, but he pounded the strike zone and kept the Gauchos off balance all night.

“J.C. was outstanding,” Johnson said. “We’re not in the College World Series without him. We’re not in the NCAA tournament without him. The quality wins that he has had this year have been special. And I don’t think we’ve had a performance that good all year that he gave us tonight.”

Cloney said his changeup felt good Wednesday, giving him a weapon with which to attack righthanded hitters. His slider played well against lefthanders, and he set them both up by locating his fastball.

Cloney’s start followed in the footsteps of exemplary outings from Nathan Bannister and Bobby Dalbec. Cloney said all season long, the Wildcats pitchers have tried to feed off each other’s success.

“Based off what Dalbec and Banny have done, I just want to go out and kind of match them,” Cloney said. “All year that’s kind of what we’ve done, is the Friday night guy will set the level and the next two guys just have to either reach it or go beyond it.”

Cloney did his best to match Bannister and Dalbec with seven scoreless innings. He became the eighth-straight Arizona starter to throw at least seven innings at TD Ameritrade Park, a streak that dates back to its national championship in 2012.

Cloney exited after a leadoff single in the eighth, handing the three-run lead to Ming. He picked up where Cloney left off, starting his outing by rolling a double play. After the Gauchos started the ninth with a double and a walk, bringing the heart of their lineup to the plate representing the tying run, Ming responded with three straight strikeouts to finish it off.

UCSB coach Andrew Checketts, who pitched at Oregon State and began his coaching career as a pitching coach, said Cloney and Ming did a good job of pounding the strike zone with multiple pitches.

“They didn’t give us any real room to breathe, and they were throwing two, three pitches for strikes,” Checketts said. “Not a whole lot out over the plate for us to hit.”

Arizona did all of its damage at the plate in the third inning. Cody Ramer and Zach Gibbons, the Wildcats’ dynamic duo at the top of the lineup, got the inning started with a single and a walk against UCSB starter Justin Kelly. Ryan Aguilar brought Ramer home with a sacrifice fly, and Jared Oliva followed with a two-out, two-run blast that sailed into Arizona’s bullpen past the left field wall.

Oliva said with their pitching staff, the Wildcats feel confident when they take an early lead.

“I know ultimately they’ve got to execute their pitches against a tough team, Santa Barbara,” Oliva said. “But we’re confident in our pitching staff we can put up two, three runs early in the ballgame like that, sure enough we’ll come out victorious.”

That’s just what Arizona did Wednesday, riding its pitching staff to victory in another elimination game. Johnson said the Wildcats have showed their character all season, and their mental fortitude in the NCAA tournament has been an extension of that.

“Our team has an elite mindset,” Johnson said. “And I’m very proud of them for that because that doesn’t happen overnight. It’s taken some work, and they’ve done a great job at staying in the moment and playing it one pitch at a time.”

Against UCSB, Cloney embodied Johnson’s motivational techniques. He said by the time the team left Lafayette after regionals, he had left his poor start behind him and was ready for the next “Super Bowl,” as Johnson refers to all of the Wildcats games.

On Wednesday, Cloney took the mound for Super Bowl 68 and delivered one of his best starts of the year.

“Coach Johnson has been talking about the Super Bowls all year,’ he said. “So, for me, it was to go out and give my best effort. And, at the end of the day, the results will set themselves.”