Arizona baseball will host ASU for the second time this season tonight at Hi Corbett Field for the final rivalry matchup of the year in a red-out.
The Wildcats (24-17, 9-12 Pac-12 Conference) will play a nonconference game facing ASU (28-12, 13-5) while trying to get rid of a five-game losing streak, their second such losing streak of the season.
“We will have to get back on track,” Arizona coach Andy Lopez said. “We’re doing some things baseball-wise that just don’t equate to success when you’re playing good teams, and this is a good conference, so when you’re playing those teams, those things don’t match up to success.”
While in the middle of a rough patch in the season, Lopez said this year still doesn’t compare to last year.
“I like this team, I really do,” Lopez said. “They play hard. We’re missing some things, but that’s my fault.”
Arizona infielder J.J. Matijevic said one of the main things going wrong for the Wildcats is not being able to get the hits they need.
“Our offense started off really hot,” Matijevic said, “and now these past couple weeks, we’ve been slumping a lot, and now we’re just not scoring enough runs.”
Arizona got out-hit by only two hits in its last game played against Cal.
Even with two errors made by the Wildcats, they’re not executing well in crucial areas, such as getting hits with runners in scoring position.
“I just don’t think we’re focused enough,” Matijevic said. “I think we’re just swinging at bad pitches and not seeing the ball well. That’s pretty much what’s going on.”
Despite the five-game losing streak, the Wildcats seem to know what is going wrong and will look to make some changes against ASU.
“We know what we have to do,” Matijevic said, “and we have to start making moves.”
Lopez has said all season long that if the team wants a shot at postseason action, it needs to at least be in the top four spots of the conference. After another sweep, Arizona is now at No. 6 in the Pac-12, while ASU is at No. 2 behind UCLA.
“We know what we’re doing wrong, and we have to start changing those things to make try to make it to the postseason,” Matijevic said.
The Sun Devils are coming off their ninth straight series win after facing Tennessee Tech and winning the last game of the series 16-4 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
ASU has won nine three-game series this season, matching its series win total from 2014 and 2013 with five more series still to play this season.
Leading ASU’s offense are David Greer, Andrew Snow and Brian Serven. The three Sun Devils are hitting over .300, and Greer is one of the top five hitters in the conference.
The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
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