BeachCats!  Happy Hour at Finch’s tonight!

Arizona Night at The Lodge at Torrey Pines will be on Saturday May 19th!!

MEN’S SWIM and DIVE
In the NCAA Championships, #1-ranked Arizona had some great moments in individual events and relays but nevertheless finished 4th, behind Cal, Texas and Stanford. Arizona’s champions were:

• 200 medley relay team
• 400 individual medley (Austen Thompson)
• 100 breaststroke (Kevin Cordes)
• 200 backstroke (Cory Chitwood, 3rd straight year!)
• platform diving (Ben Grado, beating all 25 other divers.)

BASEBALL

The #5 Wildcats finished a tough week on a high note, losing 3 games in a row before winning the final 2 contests. Arizona hosted New Mexico State for 2 non-conference tilts, losing both, then traveled to #19 Oregon State and fell in the first game there. The Cats recovered to win the final two from the Beavers. This Friday and Saturday Arizona will host Stanford at 6 pm, then finish on Sunday at noon. With a record now of 18-7, 4-2, the Wildcats’ ranking of #5 will probably drop this week.

• NMSU 7, Arizona 4 - 4 late UA errors doomed Cats
• NMSU 13, Arizona 8 - Cat pitchers allowed 16 hits, 9 walks, 3 hit-batters
• OSU 6, Arizona 5 - Down 1-5, UA scored 2 in 8th, 2 in 9th to tie, lost it in 9th
• Arizona 5, OSU 4 - Down 1-3, UA scored 1 in 7th, 1 in 8th, 2 homers in 9th
• Arizona 7, OSU 5 - Down again, 0-2 and 2-3, Cats rallied in cold and rain, pitched well in late innings

SOFTBALL

Legendary UA softball coach Mike Candreasuffered chest tightness during Sunday’s game at ASU and was rushed to a hospital, where he passed an EKG. He was then transported to Tucson’s UMC for overnight observation. It is hoped that his distress was caused only by a combination of stress, tiredness and food.

#14 Arizona split a pair vs New Mexico State but exposed its pitching problems when opening Pac-12 play at #5 Arizona State. The two top UA pitchers just don’t throw strikes consistently and against high-level teams there is little margin for error. Arizona had a lead in all 3 games, 2-0, 3-0 and 6-0, and at least 2 of the 3 games at ASU were winnable, but pitching killed the Cats and they lost all 3. Now 19-8, 0-3, Arizona will host San Diego State for non-conference games on Tuesday and Wednesday, then welcome Stanford for 3 games, Friday through Sunday.

• NMSU 9, Arizona 5 - UA’s 2 early home runs forged 6-1 lead, bats cooled, Fowler had allowed 2 homers all season but Aggies hit 3 HR, 5 walks, 2 errors hurt Cats
• Arizona 6, NMSU 3 - Behind 1-3 in 6th, 2 outs and 2 strikes, UA scored 5, Wilson 4 for 4, Babcock winning pitcher
• ASU 4, UA 2 - Heartbreaker, Babcock and Fowler pitched well for UA, 2-2 tie through 7, ASU got only 4 hits but 1 was 2-run homer in 8th, UA so close, stranded bases loaded in 3rd and 5th, stranded possible scorers in 7th and 8th.
• ASU 9, UA 6 - Each team had 6 hits, UA received 1 walk, gave out 10
• ASU 7, UA 6 - Arizona led 6-1 after 5 innings, then were Cats upset by Candrea’s health scare? Or Fowler’s flu? 7 late walks, grand slam killed Cats

GO CATS!!!

Dave Evans

San Diego
dhevansjr@att.net

Dateline: Pittsburgh, PA
Roofline: Snow and icicles, due to melt on Tuesday

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Heavily-favored Arizona (21-10, 12-6) lost to miserable Arizona State, (10-20, 6-12) in Tempe on Sunday, 87-80, when the Sun Devils played an almost-perfect game. The Wildcats offensively did enough to win virtually any game: 80 points, 10 of 21 threes, 20 of 24 free throws, 28 rebounds, 16 assists, 5 blocks, 8 steals – my gosh, rack up a win! Trouble was, the Sun Devils outdid their typical game in every way, having 9 blocks, 13 steals, only 10 turnovers, shooting far better than usual on twos, threes and free throws (22 of 24) and on and on. Was the Arizona defense lacking badly, or did ASU combine quickness and perfect shooting? Probably some of both.

Arizona trailed by a single point with 1:44 remaining and again by a point at the 0:51 mark, at 80-81. Chances to steal the win evaporated as Turner and Fogg missed shots and deliberate UA fouls led to 6 straight ASU-made free throws for an 87-80 victory.

The Cats did secure the #4 seed for the Pac-12 Tournament and will skip Wednesday, then play on Thursday at 2:30 PST, 3:30 MST. Perennial “home-team-advantage” UCLA will surely beat USC on Wednesday and oppose Arizona on Thursday. The first 3 days, all games will be shown nationwide on FSN, then the championship game on Saturday is covered by CBS at 3 PST. NCAA bracket selections will happen on Sunday. After the stunner at ASU, the Wildcats will likely have to win the whole Pac-12 Tournament to be included. That will be very tough, with a Wildcat season record of 2-4 versus likely opponents UCLA, Washington and Cal or Oregon.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Arizona lost the final game of the regular season to ASU on Saturday, 70-63, to finish 14-16 overall and 3-15 Pac -12, at the bottom of the league. In the Pac-12 Tournament the Cats will face UCLA at 2:15 PST on Wednesday at Galen Center in Los Angeles.

SOFTBALL
#15 Arizona did not allow a single run in 3 games versus visiting College of Charleston last week, with the first 2 games ending after 4½ innings due to the mercy rule. The Wildcats take a record of 16-4 to Waco, TX next week for a series against #10 Baylor, playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

BASEBALL
#7 Arizona improved to 8-2 by beating visiting Harvard 3 times last week. The Wildcats will host UC Davis on Tuesday and Wednesday, then welcome Eastern Michigan for 3 games Friday through Sunday.

• Arizona 7, Harvard 1 – Heyer 14 Ks, 6 hits, no walks, Gilbert 3 RBI, Field 3 hits
• Arizona 3, Harvard 1 – UA pitchers had 12 strikeouts and induced 4 double plays
• Arizona 13, Harvard 2 – Cats 13 hits (J. Field 3), Crimson had 6 errors

MEN’S SWIMMING
Head Coach Eric Hansen put a positive spin on #1-ranked Arizona’s disappointing performance in the 4-day Pac-12 Championship in Los Angeles. The Wildcats had several good results but finished third as a team. The much-more-important NCAAs will be held in Federal Way, Washington, March 22 through 24.

MEN’S TENNIS
The UA men “can’t win for losing,” dropping their 6th and 7th consecutive matches, 5-2 at TCU and 6-1 at Oklahoma. The Wildcats will host San Diego State on Saturday and New Mexico State on Monday.

WOMEN’S TENNIS
The UA women can hardly lose lately, beating University of San Diego, San Diego State, North Texas and Cal Poly, then in Alabama beat SMU but lost to #12 Virginia, and beat Illinois. Then back in Tucson, the Cats beat Sacramento State and Saint Mary’s.

GYMNASTICS
In Palo Alto, the Wildcats met Cal and #12 Stanford in a 3-way meet, losing to Stanford but topping Cal. Next up, a long trip to meet New Hampshire University on Saturday.

GO CATS!!!

Dave Evans

San Diego
dhevansjr@att.net