The Arizona baseball team (33-17, 14-10) returns to Hi Corbett Field this weekend for its final home Pac-12 series of the season against Oregon State University (39-9, 18-6), currently first place in the conference. The Oregon State Beavers (39-9, 18-6) have shut out their last two opponents and have won seven games in a row entering Friday’s matchup against Arizona.
“Obviously, things haven’t gone the way that we liked it to, but it’s baseball, it happens,” said Senior reliever George Arias Jr. on Wednesday. “I think if you continue to have a deliberate plan and keep practicing what you do and just really honestly just trust your stuff, I think it doesn’t really matter. You don’t play the opponent, you just play the game.”
Arizona has had trouble at times in away games this season, including recent road trips to the University of Utah and USC.
“This year, going to Utah and losing a series and going to last place USC and losing a series, I noticed that a lot of the teams were all like very similar. And I think top to bottom, yes, I think the conference is a lot better this year,” said senior pitcher Garrett Irvin.
The Wildcats will look to build some momentum with a series win this weekend against top-ranked Oregon State before the Pac-12 tournament begins in late May in Scottsdale. Arizona will travel to Oregon next weekend for its final road trip of the season.
“I think right now is a perfect time because you know, you have number two Oregon State coming in, and it’s kind of a win-win because if we sweep them, we can kind of get rolling. And so, I think as a team, we have that in our back pocket how we were playing in the beginning of the year. And I know that’s possible again, so I’m hoping that we can get rolling at the end of the season at the right time and roll through playoffs,” said Irvin.
“As a team, we’re all having a lot of fun right now, even though we’re losing, which kind of stinks. We all hate losing, but I’ve noticed more and more that the guys in the locker room, we all get along a lot more and we’re all having a lot of fun. So, I think that’ll be a good combination of winning a lot of games and having a lot of fun.”
Senior Day ceremonies for Arizona’s six seniors will be held before the start of Saturday’s game. Five pitchers will be graduating from Arizona including George Arias Jr., Garrett Irvin, Holden Christian, Quinn Flanagan and Jonathan Guardado, as well as outfielder Blake Paugh.
“It’ll definitely be bittersweet this weekend. The last game here, I was thinking about it all week, so I’ll miss this place,” said Irvin.
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