With a roster impacted by injuries Wednesday night, Arizona baseball head coach Andy Lopez took the opportunity to get a couple of players some experience.
He wasn’t disappointed.
As regulars Bryce Ortega and Steve Selsky sat on the bench with a sore back and high fever, respectively, the door opened for freshman Kyle Stiner and junior Codi Harshman to show their stuff.
In the Wildcats’ 8-1 win over Holy Cross (0-5) Wednesday night, Stiner and Harshman played like regular starters as the pair added a combined five hits and three RBIs to the Wildcats (6-4) lineup in addition to a solid defensive effort in the field.
“”We got some really solid performances out of (Stiner and Harshman),”” Lopez said. “”They played the way that made us go, ‘Hey, we might need to give these guys a closer look.’ They may be (in the lineup) for a while with the way they played (Wednesday night).””
Stiner, a shortstop who received preseason praise from Lopez, showed off his glove in the 2nd inning. After making a diving stop, Stiner threw behind the runner rounding third base for the out.
The smooth glove work was just the start of Stiner’s strong night. The freshman was impressive at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.
Stiner’s start against the Crusaders makes this the third year in a row in which a freshman has started at the position, and according to Lopez, Wednesday will likely not be Stiner’s last start of the season.
“”I know coach gives guys chances and I was excited to get mine,”” Stiner said. “”(Lopez) makes us practice hard, like it’s a game, and it was kind of the same thing out here tonight. I was just trying to stay relaxed and make all the routine plays.””
The other Wildcat making his first start of his Arizona career was Harshman. The transfer from Pima Community College looked comfortable, especially at the plate, where he went 3-for-3 with a walk and collected three runs.
The junior admitted after the game that the speed of the Division I game has taken some getting used to, but he believes his junior college experience prepared him for his first plate appearance at the D-I level.
“”The pitching out there was what I was used to,”” Harshman said. “”I played two years in junior college so I was pretty comfortable. But it was definitely good to see live pitching.””
In addition to the resurgence of the Arizona offense, the Wildcats also looked strong from a pitching standpoint. The foursome of Arizona pitchers did not allow an earned run during the night and did not allow a single hit after the fifth inning.
Starting pitcher Kyle Simon (1-0) pitched well despite a trio of walks, allowing only two hits through 3 1/3 innings of work.
“”Pitching was pretty good (Wednesday night),”” Lopez said. “”Those two young guys at the front looked pretty good and of course (Corey) Burns and (Jason) Stoffel were impressive at the end. So (it was a) good night overall from that stand point.””
