Baseball loses to Wichita State at Regionals

After rolling past its first two opponents, the Arizona baseball team lost its last two games to Wichita State, the top seed at the Wichita regional June 3-4.

The Wildcats, who were a No. 2 seed in the regional, won their first two games in the postseason against Oral Roberts and New Orleans but were unable to clinch a third victory to advance to the next round.

Senior Bill Rhinehart got recognition for hitting .538 (7-for-13) with a double, triple, two home runs and seven RBI and four runs scored. Against New Orleans, Rhinehart became the first player in school history to hit for the cycle in the postseason.

Freshman Jason Stoffel struck out 11 of the 16 batters he faced, allowing no walks and one hit in five innings. He earned two saves.

It was the first time since 1989 that a Wildcat baseball team (42-17) won at least 40 games.

Arizona returned to the postseason after a one-year hiatus.

The Wildcats also had seven players selected in the June MLB amateur draft: Brad Mills (fourth round, Blue Jays), Daniel Schlereth (eighth round, Athletics), Eric Berger (ninth round, Athletics), Rhinehart (11th round, Nationals), C.J. Ziegler (37th round, Cardinals), Colt Sedbrook (42nd round, Cubs) and David Coulon (42nd round, Rockies).

Arnold nabs consecutive decathlon titles

Decathlete Jake Arnold inked his legacy in the record books as the men’s track team finished 11th overall at the 2007 NCAA Championships June 6-9.

Arnold, at the time a senior, recorded his second consecutive national decathlon title after posting a school-record 8,215 points during the 10-event competition.

Arnold scored 10 of the Wildcats’ 18 team points and is only the second athlete in NCAA history to win consecutive decathlon titles.

Then-senior Adam Kuehl also received points for a fifth-place finish in the discus. The 2006 NCAA discus runner-up threw 60.66 meters and is the current school record-holder. His four points earned him All-American status for the third straight year.

Then-senior Obed Mutanya finished sixth in the men’s 5,000m with a time of 13:42.81. Mutanya earned three points in that event and added another in the 4x100m relay.

Nine other Wildcats earned All-American honors, including Arnold, Kuehl, Jarred Sola (shot put), Obed

Mutanya (5,000m), Marcus Tyus (4x100m relay), Xiong Xuehan (4x100m relay), Antoine Cason (4x100m relay), Troy Harris (4x100m relay), Bobby McCoy (4x100m relay) and Shevell Quinley (heptathlon).

Florida State won the national championship, followed by LSU and Auburn.

Women’s golf finishes 14th at NCAAs

The Arizona women’s golf team finished in a tie for 14th place at the NCAA Championships May 25.

Overall, the team shot a 74-over 1,226 and a 22-over 310 in the final round of the 72-hole tournament.

Then-sophomore Amanda Wilson recorded the best individual performance, finishing 34th with a 15-over 303. Then-junior Mary Jacobs came in 40th place, and then-sophomore Adriana Zwanck came in five strokes behind her in a tie for 65th.

All-American Alison Walshe, a junior at the time, came in 69th at 22-over 310.d

Men’s golf misses cut at Championships

The Arizona men’s golf team missed the 54-hole cut by seven strokes at the NCAA Championships June 1 in Williamsburg, Va., ultimately finishing in 24th place.

In the third and final round for the Wildcats, the team shot a 1-over 281.

Leading the way for Arizona were then-seniors Josh Wilks and Nathan Tyler. Wilks shot a 5-over 215, coming in a tie for 74th place, while Tyler came in a tie with then-freshman Pedro Oriol for 83th place.

Women’s tennis, Steinberg fall early at NCAAs

The Arizona women’s tennis team endured two first-round losses in tournament play in May.

Then-sophomore Danielle Steinberg represented the Wildcats in the NCAA Singles Championship, but lost to Florida’s Csilla Borsanyi in the first round in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.

During team tournament play, the Wildcats fell to Kentucky 4-0 in the first round at the Bill Moore Tennis Center in Atlanta to end their season at 9-14 overall.

Arizona’s Steinberg and Juliette Mavroleon posted the only win in doubles play, 8-2.

– Arizona Daily Wildcat