Arizona baseball vows to prove its worth in NCAA Tournament field
Arizona is headed to the Fayetteville Regional on Friday to begin upon what it hopes is a road to Omaha.
In their second season under head coach Chip Hale, the Wildcats put together an at-large résumé that included a runner-up finish in the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, 20 wins against RPI top-100 teams, and the 25th-toughest schedule in the nation.
Arizona will make its 42nd all-time appearance in the tourney, one of the best marks in the country, but it wasn’t a lock to make the field heading into Selection Monday. A hot streak to close out the season — wins in seven of the UA’s final eight games heading into the conference tournament championship game — put the Wildcats on the doorstep of the Field of 64.
On Monday, they learned they’d done enough. Seeing as it’s now Dogpile SZN, being in the team’s locker room wasn’t going to stop the Wildcats from celebrating their bid appropriately.
LET’S GOOOOOOOOO!!! #BearDown pic.twitter.com/EwLZBnB9U3
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 29, 2023
Arizona was one of the last four teams selected to the field.
The Wildcats open play at the Fayetteville Regional against TCU on Friday, June 2, at 6 p.m. PT on ESPNU. The Horned Frogs beat Oklahoma State (hosting a regional as the No. 11 overall seed) on Sunday to win the Big 12 Tournament and will enter NCAA play riding a six-game winning streak.
And Arizona is itching to go out and prove worthy of sharing the field.
‘There’s no need for extra motivation,” Hale said on Monday, per AZ Desert Swarm’s Brian Pedersen. “We will prove that we’re a good team.”