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Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NCAA Baseball Tournament: What Chip Hale, Arizona baseball players said after beating North Carolina to clinch College World Series bid
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—It was 29 years ago Monday that Chip Hale won a College World Series title with Arizona as a player. June 9 also happens to be the birthday of his wife, Judi, but she wasn't able to take the trip to Omaha to support her school and her future husband back in 1986. 'Yeah, we didn't have girlfriends like these guys do, have the girlfriends on the road,' Hale said after leading his alma mater back to the World Series. 'We didn't have enough money to get them to Omaha. We started dating that year. I did something like I took my helmet off and rubbed my head and said that was for your birthday.' Advertisement There will be no shortage of UA fans making the trip to Omaha for the program's 19th CWS trip, first since 2021 and first under Hale. The Wildcats were well represented at the Big 12 Tournament in Texas, the regionals in Oregon and this weekend in North Carolina. 'I want to thank our parents and alumni and fans who showed up here in Chapel Hill and in Eugene on the way here and at Globe Life for the Big 12 Tournament,' Hale said. 'Just fantastic families. When we recruit kids we recruit their families. And just so proud that they get the opportunity to go on to Omaha, too.' Our game recap from another late comeback win for Arizona (44-19) can be found here. Below is what Hale, shortstop Mason White and pitchers Smith Bailey and Casey Hintz had to say after the victory to clinch a Super Regional title: Hale on North Carolina: 'We're getting an opportunity to go to Omaha and move on, and I don't know, we'll see when we get there, but it's going to be hard to find a team that's as good as them. Lineup, pitching the way they play the game. So I want to congratulate them on a great year, and I know they're disappointed. It's just, this is a hard deal. I know winning is great, but sometimes you learn a lot in a loss.' Advertisement On the fielding error that started the winning rally: 'When it happened, obviously it's a great opportunity for us. It's a crack to get through and we did it. But I feel real bad. I've been in that situation before. I've had it in pro where we lost playoff games that way. It's not a good feeling, but you have to take advantage of mistakes. Early, middle of the year, we did a lot of swinging and missing on that pitch, so at least we made them make the play.' On Arizona having an error in the bottom of the 6th on a double play attempt: 'That was unlike us, just trying to be too quick on a double play instead of just getting the sure out.' On his emotions after the win: 'Relief. One-run games are tough in college baseball. The key thing is to keep guys off base and Tony (Pluta) did that. Obviously, we're just overwhelmed with emotion. You sit after the game and you just think about the next one. I'm just so happy for these kids. I'm happy, like I said, happy for these families. They have grinded so hard, spent so much money coming here and raising these kids, putting them in travel baseball and high school baseball, and now they get get a payoff to go to Omaha. We're going to go there and put our best foot forward and try to win our fifth national championship.' On winning two straight after an 18-2 loss in the opener: 'They were able to flush that. We've had some issues on Fridays. Once that game got out of hand, we knew that that wasn't really what the score to us was. It looked bad, I kept looking (during) these other good games, it's up in the corner, let's just get rid of that 18-2 game. But that's who they are. They're very gritty, and the one thing they do is play pitch to pitch like they've been talking about and don't worry about anything else. And we've been through some tough times. I think that was the thing with this team, we felt like this was a team that could get Omaha in the fall. Really felt like it, and then we hit some real roadblocks along the way, and it ended up being a blessing to us, because we got hot at the right time.' Advertisement On the 'Chasing Five' mantra: 'It's been a theme since day one. In the fall we had banners up, we had T-shirts made. It's really important. These guys want to make history at Arizona. This is a program that's won four national championships, and we want to be in Omaha, and we want to win it. It's been a huge theme for us. And there was a point in the season, I think everybody, if we're honest, where it did look very good for us, but these kids sucked it up and they're doing like Mason did today, what you have to do to win. Find the holes, instead of going for the going for the fences he put his head down hit a line drive to left field to get two runs.' On UNC starter Ryan Lynch: 'I was very impressed, because I felt like it was gonna be a lot like the first two guys. And really no change, fastball/slider. And I could tell from pitch number one on Brendan that there was something going on, whether it was his extension, or it just was getting on our guys. We love guys are going to challenge us with heaters, and he was beating us. We made some adjustments, but I don't think really we ever were on to him.' On Easton Breyfogle following his on-field collision: 'I think he's okay. We had the opportunity with that head injury or upper extremities, to take him out and put him back in if we have to, if he shows okay. But James, our trainer, came right to me in the next inning and he said he's not going to go back in the game. So he there was some concussion-like symptoms. He seemed good after the game, but we'll see how he feels tomorrow. Probably have to do some concussion protocols.' On Smith Bailey's poise in big games: 'He's been fantastic. And I I say it again, it's it comes back to his upbringing. His parents are fantastic parents. He's got an older brother that's pitched all through college, at Grand Canyon against us this year, and those things are big. And there's not a moment that's too big for him.' Advertisement White on the 8th inning rally: 'The way this game was going, we just needed a crack. Chip said that before it happened. We just need a crack and we can push through the wall.' On his game-winning hit: 'I was just trying to put a ball in play, specifically in the air just to get a guy in and tie the game. They'd been shifting me the whole weekend, so I knew just stay in the middle on the field. He gave me a good pitch, the pitch I swung at before was a really good change up in the dirt. So I put that in the back of my mind and I just got a pitch up and swung.' On being a Tucson kid making the College World Series: 'To be a third-generation guy, I'm the first one. My dad and grandpa didn't get to go. I was at every game in '12 when they were in the regionals and Supers. I watched every game in '16. It's almost like a dream.' On using his Saturday at-bats with Tanner McDuffie: 'He showed me what he was trying to do. He attacked me the same way he did yesterday, he just did a better change-up.' Advertisement On Lynch: 'He has a lively 95 … it feels like 100. That was getting at us. We battle against that stuff. But when someone attacks like that, and it's just guy after guy gets out. I think it kind of bulldozed you, guys see that. Our whole message was being ready for the fastball and he was beating us with it.' On opening the CWS against Coastal Carolina: 'Part of this dream, it's just unbelievable that my first game—I've never been to Omaha, fan or anything—my first game to play in Omaha would be against Coastal. I watched every pitch against them. And to see a team like Coastal beat my Arizona was heartbreaking. It was just unbelievable. And I know some of the players that played on that team, so I know they're gonna be watching, and I feel like it's destined, like it was in the script.' Bailey on his approach: 'The only thing I think I really thought of and talked to myself about was just execute, execute ground balls. I knew with their at bats I wasn't going to get a whole lot of strikeouts. That's a great hitting team. Just want to get ground balls.' On if it changed after giving up the home run: 'I don't think it changed at all. I just continued to try to execute. On that home run I just didn't execute the change up, and I knew if I got that little bit lower it would have been a swing and miss. The whole goal of the day was just execute my pitches.' Advertisement Hintz on getting called on again after allowing a homer on Saturday: 'It's my goal to go in there and help the team get outs and they know to trust me in this situation, to get ground balls and I'm going to be able to go down there and get three outs. So what happened yesterday was in the past, it is what it is. I go in there pitch by pitch, and just get outs.' More from
Reuters
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Super regionals roundup: Arizona completes series comeback vs. UNC
June 9 - A pivotal eighth inning gave the Arizona Wildcats a 4-3 comeback victory over the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels in the decisive Game 3 of the Chapel Hill super regional to earn a spot in the College World Series. Mason White hit a two-run single with the bases loaded to put the Wildcats (44-19) up for good. Arizona's bullpen was lights out late, tossing three innings without surrendering a hit. Garen Caulfield hit a solo shot in the second inning to notch Arizona's first run of the game. North Carolina infielder Jackson Van De Brake responded with a three-run homer in the third to give North Carolina (46-15) an early lead. Both teams were scoreless over the next four innings, until the Tar Heels' defense and bullpen faltered in the eighth. An error put runners on first and second, then an Easton Breyfogle bunt drove in a run to make the game 3-2 prior to the decisive hit. Louisville 3, Miami 2 Eddie King Jr. hit an RBI double in the seventh inning pushed the Cardinals past the Hurricanes in a Game 3 win at the Louisville super regional and gain a spot in the College World Series. Max Galvin hit a two-run shot to right field in the third inning for Miami's only runs of the game. The Hurricanes (35-27) tallied eight hits, but failed to go for extra bases and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Miami starting pitcher Reese Lumpkin was pulled after only 3 2/3 innings, forcing the Hurricanes to use five pitchers in the game. Louisville (40-22) tied the game at 2 in the fourth inning after a Zion Rose RBI double and a Bayram Hot grounder drove in Rose on a fielder's choice. With two outs in the seventh frame, Cardinals infielder Jake Munroe singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. King Jr. then drove in Munroe for a 3-2 lead that Louisville would not relinquish. Murray State 19, Duke 9 The Racers exploded for 17 hits, four home runs and a nine-run seventh inning in a blowout 19-9 win against the Blue Devils in Game 2 of the Durham super regional to force a Game 3. Duke (41-20) used eight pitchers in the contest, including starter Kyle Johnson, who was pulled after allowing six runs in only three innings. The Blue Devils scored first with back-to-back solo homers to right center in the first inning from AJ Gracia and Ben Miller. Murray State (43-15) one-upped them with a Jonathan Hogart solo shot, followed by back-to-back walks and consecutive RBI singles with the bases loaded to go up 3-2. Murray State struck again in the second inning when Carson Garner hit a two-run shot. The Racers reached double-digit runs with a five-run fourth inning. Macon Winslow hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run sixth inning for Duke and narrow the score to 10-8. The Racers put an exclamation point on their offensive outburst with a nine-run seventh inning, featuring two-run homers by Dan Tauken and Conner Cunningham. No. 3 Arkansas 11, No. 14 Tennessee 4 Logan Maxwell smacked a grand slam as the Razorbacks parlayed a five-run fourth inning into a series-sealing win over the Volunteers in Game 2 of the Fayetteville super regional to reach the College World Series. Tennessee starter Liam Doyle, who was recently named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, had a subpar outing, allowing five runs in 3 2/3 innings. Doyle walked Justin Thomas Jr. to start the third inning, then gave up a no-doubt two-run homer to Charles Davalan. The Vols (46-19) narrowed the gap in the bottom of the third, but had the opportunity to tie the game or take the lead. With the bases loaded and no outs, Andrew Fischer grounded into a double play, scoring a run. Hunter Ensley then flew out. Doyle coaxed two outs, but allowed runners on first and second, then intentionally walked Davalan to load the bases. Brayden Krenzel relieved Doyle, then threw a wild pitch, allowing a run to score. Krenzel hit the next batter with a pitch, once again loading the bases. Maxwell followed with his grand slam to left field, giving Arkansas (48-13) a 7-1 lead. The Razorbacks tacked on three more runs in the seventh and another in the ninth. No. 6 LSU 12, West Virginia 5 Early offense and a six-run showing in the seventh inning powered the Tigers (48-15) to a Game 2 win over the Mountaineers (44-16) and a Men's College World Series appearance. LSU leaped out to an early lead with one run in the first inning and five runs in the second, highlighted by a Steven Milam 3-RBI double and a pair of RBI singles, before the Mountaineers could get on the board. West Virginia closed the gap in the fourth and fifth innings. Sam White hit a solo shot and Ben Lumsden smacked a two-run homer for the Mountaineers in the fourth inning to cut the LSU lead in half. Another RBI from White in the fifth made it 6-4, but LSU delivered a knockout punch two innings later. A 2-RBI single, an error, an RBI double and a Jake Brown two-run homer produced six runs in the seventh inning and gave the Tigers a comfortable 12-4 lead that they held on to. No. 8 Oregon State 14, No. 9 Florida State 10 The Beavers (47-14-1) scored 13 runs in the first three innings in an elimination game win over the Seminoles (42-16) to advance to the Men's College World Series. Trent Caraway shined for Oregon State with two hits and four RBIs. After a single, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases in the first inning, the Beavers capitalized with four hits, including a three-run homer from Canon Reeder followed by a Carson McEntire solo shot, for seven runs. Max Williams and Chase Williams homered for the Seminoles in the first two innings, but Florida State fell even further behind in the third. Caraway bashed a grand slam to put the Beavers up 11-3. Gavin Turley hit a two-run home run in the same frame to put Oregon State up by 10. The Seminoles strung together five runs in the middle innings and notched two more in the ninth, but Oregon State's lead proved to be insurmountable for Florida State. No. 15 UCLA 7, UTSA 0 The Bruins' pitching staff silenced the Roadrunners' bats, holding UTSA to four hits in a shutout win to close out the Los Angeles super regional and advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2013. Landon Stump started for UCLA (47-16) and struck out five over four innings before four relievers held UTSA (47-15) without a hit for the final five frames. Payton Brennan had three hits and two RBIs and Roch Cholowsky and Roman Martin had two hits apiece for UCLA. Toussaint Bythewood hit an RBI single in the fourth inning for the Bruins' first run of the game. Cholowsky followed in the fifth inning with his own RBI single to give UCLA a 2-0 lead. UCLA extended its lead to four runs in the eighth inning. Brennan hit an infield single, advancing AJ Salgado to third, then a throwing error by UTSA first baseman Lorenzo Morresi allowed Salgado to score. Phoenix Call hit a sacrifice fly to center field later in the eighth, scoring Brennan, and Brennan added a two-run single in a three-run UCLA ninth. --Field Level Media
08-06-2025
- Sport
White caps rally in 8th with 2-run single, Arizona to CWS with 4-3 win over Tar Heels
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Mason White's two-run single capped a three-run eighth inning, lifting Arizona to a 4-3 victory over North Carolina on Sunday to earn the Wildcats their 19th trip to the College World Series. Arizona (44-19) dropped the opener of the Chapel Hill Super Regional 18-2 to the fifth-seeded Tar Heels (46-15) before winning 10-8 on Saturday and rallying on Sunday. The Wildcats, whose last appearance in the CWS was in 2021, will face Coastal Carolina in Omaha, Nebraska, later this week The final game belonged to the pitchers as both teams mustered just five hits. Arizona starter Smith Bailey gave up three runs and all five hits in his six innings. Two of the hits were singles ahead of Jackson Van De Brake's home run in the third. Julian Tonghini (5-2) pitched a perfect seventh, Casey Hintz gave up a pair of walks in a scoreless eighth, and Tony Pluta faced three batters in the ninth for his 14th save. Garen Caulfield gave Arizona a 1-0 lead in the second with a solo home run. The Wildcats had one hit from there until Andrew Cain singled leading off the eighth. An error put two on base before Walker McDuffie relieved starter Ryan Lynch. That's when Easton Breyfogle beat out a bunt to third with Cain scoring when the third baseman threw the ball away. A walk loaded the bases before McDuffie (3-3) recorded an out with an infield fly. White greeted reliever Aidan Haugh with a single up the middle for the lead. Arizona is heading to the finals for only the fifth time since winning its third national title in 1986. The Wildcats also won in 1976, 1980 and 2012. North Carolina failed to advance to the CWS for just the third time in the 10 super regionals the Tar Heels have hosted.
Reuters
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Super regionals roundup: Arizona completes series comeback against No. 5 North Carolina
June 8 - A pivotal eighth inning gave the Arizona Wildcats (44-19) a comeback 4-3 victory over the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels (46-15) in the decisive Game 3 of the Chapel Hill super regional. Garen Caulfield hit a solo shot in the second inning to notch Arizona's first run of the game. North Carolina infielder Jackson Van De Brake responded with a three-run homer in the third to give North Carolina an early lead. Both teams were scoreless over the next four innings, until the Tar Heels' defense and bullpen faltered in the eighth. An error put runners on first and second, then an Easton Breyfogle bunt drove in a run to make the game 3-2. Mason White hit a 2-RBI single with the bases loaded to put the Wildcats up 4-3 for good. Arizona's bullpen was lights out late, tossing three innings without surrendering a hit. Louisville 3, Miami 2 Eddie King Jr.'s RBI double in the seventh inning pushed the Cardinals (40-22) past the Hurricanes (35-27) in a Game 3 win at the Louisville super regional. Max Galvin hit a two-run shot to right field in the third inning for Miami's only runs of the game. The Hurricanes tallied eight hits, but failed to go for extra bases and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Miami starting pitcher was pulled after only 3 2/3 innings, forcing the Hurricanes to use five pitchers in the game. Louisville tied the game at 2-all in the fourth inning after a Zion Rose RBI double and a Bayram Hot grounder drove in Rose on a fielder's choice. With two outs in the seventh frame, Cardinals infielder Jake Munroe singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. King Jr. then drove in Munroe for a 3-2 lead that Louisville would not relinquish. Murray State 19, Duke 9 The Racers (43-15) exploded for 17 hits, four home runs and a nine-run seventh inning in a blowout 19-9 win against the Blue Devils (41-20) in Game 2 of the Durham super regional to force a Game 3. Duke used eight pitchers in the contest, including starter Kyle Johnson, who was pulled after allowing six runs in only three innings. The Blue Devils scored first with back-to-back solo homers to right center in the first inning from AJ Gracia and Ben Miller. Murray State one-upped them with a Jonathan Hogart solo shot, followed by back-to-back walks and consecutive RBI singles with the bases loaded to go up 3-2. Murray State struck again in the second inning when Carson Garner hit a two-run shot. The Racers reached double-digit runs with a five-run fourth inning. Macon Winslow hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run sixth inning for Duke and narrow the score to 10-8. The Racers put an exclamation point on their offensive outburst with a nine-run seventh inning, featuring two-run homers by Dan Tauken and Conner Cunningham. --Field Level Media
Winnipeg Free Press
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
White caps rally in 8th with 2-run single, Arizona to CWS with 4-3 win over Tar Heels
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Mason White's two-run single capped a three-run eighth inning, lifting Arizona to a 4-3 victory over North Carolina on Sunday to earn the Wildcats their 19th trip to the College World Series. Arizona (44-19) dropped the opener of the Chapel Hill Super Regional 18-2 to the fifth-seeded Tar Heels (46-15) before winning 10-8 on Saturday and rallying on Sunday. The Wildcats, whose last appearance in the CWS was in 2021, will face Coastal Carolina in Omaha, Nebraska, later this week The final game belonged to the pitchers as both teams mustered just five hits. Arizona starter Smith Bailey gave up three runs and all five hits in his six innings. Two of the hits were singles ahead of Jackson Van De Brake's home run in the third. Julian Tonghini (5-2) pitched a perfect seventh, Casey Hintz gave up a pair of walks in a scoreless eighth, and Tony Pluta faced three batters in the ninth for his 14th save. Garen Caulfield gave Arizona a 1-0 lead in the second with a solo home run. The Wildcats had one hit from there until Andrew Cain singled leading off the eighth. An error put two on base before Walker McDuffie relieved starter Ryan Lynch. That's when Easton Breyfogle beat out a bunt to third with Cain scoring when the third baseman threw the ball away. A walk loaded the bases before McDuffie (3-3) recorded an out with an infield fly. White greeted reliever Aidan Haugh with a single up the middle for the lead. Arizona is heading to the finals for only the fifth time since winning its third national title in 1986. The Wildcats also won in 1976, 1980 and 2012. North Carolina failed to advance to the CWS for just the third time in the 10 super regionals the Tar Heels have hosted. ___ AP college sports:
