The Tucson Regional was widely considered the toughest of the 16 in the NCAA tournament. Host Arizona found out how tough it is and became the first national qualifier eliminated.
Dallas Baptist eliminated the No. 13 Wildcats with a 7-0 victory Saturday, less than 24 hours after Grand Canyon, the regional fourth seed, beat them 9-4.
Meanwhile, Evansville beat VCU 17-11 in Greenville, North Carolina, and is one win away from becoming the third No. 4 regional seed in four years to advance to the super regionals.
Arizona, picked ninth in the Pac-12 in the preseason, swept the conference regular season and tournament championships and hosted a regional that included four teams with a combined winning percentage of .649.
The Wildcats had gone a combined 10-1 record in the previous two regionals they hosted at Hi Corbett Field and reached the College World Series both times (2012 and 2021).
But they were scoreless in their final 12 innings this weekend, and the loss to regional No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist marked only the second time they were eliminated this season.
“I'm amazed at how good everyone is in college baseball,” Arizona coach Chip Hale said. “If you look at Grand Canyon, we played them four times and they beat us three times, and they're supposedly a half-major. It's a great thing about college sports in general. We see it in the NCAA basketball tournament. We see something big. surprises. It's fun for those teams, it's not fun for us.”
Arizona managed three hits and four walks in six innings against Patriots starter Jaron DeBerry, and just two singles the rest of the way against three relievers. Cam Walty allowed a season-high six runs in four innings, his shortest outing since March 30. He left after Tom Poole hit his second home run of the game with no outs in the fifth.
The Wildcats were 12-for-64 (.188) in the two regional games, including 5-for-27 with runners on base.
Arizona has gone 0-2 in consecutive tournaments. Last year, the Wildcats were winless in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Missouri Valley Conference champion Evansville, in the tournament for the first time since 2006, defeated No. 16 national seed East Carolina on Friday and won a matchup against VCU on Saturday. The Purple Aces hit four home runs, including Brent Widder's grand slam, and finished with 15 hits. They scored 17 runs for the third time in six games.
The Aces will play either East Carolina or VCU in the regional final on Sunday and would have to lose twice to avoid joining Oral Roberts 2023 and South Florida 2021 in advancing as the fourth regional seed.
Seven of the top eight national finishers advanced to the regional finals. No. 5 Arkansas lost 7-6 to Kansas State and would have to win an elimination game against Southeast Missouri and beat the Wildcats twice to reach the super regionals for the fifth time in six years.
HIGH POINTS, WELL, HIGH POINT
High Point's 10-9 victory over Vanderbilt marked the Panthers' first win in their program's first regional appearance and a quick exit for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt appeared in two games and was out of the tournament for the second time in 22 all-time appearances. The Commodores also went 0-2 in 2016.
“That's new territory for us,” coach Tim Corbin said. “But that falls on me and you have to look in the mirror and say it's not good enough, at least by the standard we've created.”
The Big South champion Panthers reached Sunday when Miggy Echazarreta singled to right field to drive in Adam Stuart with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
“An incredible game for our program and for these young men,” coach Joey Hammond said. “We don't blink an eye at any time. It's who we are and it's what we've been doing all year. It doesn't surprise us.”
PIRATES PREVAIL
No. 16 national seed East Carolina defended its home field with a 7-6 victory over 2023 College World Series participant Wake Forest. It was a strange elimination game that coincided with likely top-15 picks in next month's amateur draft, with Wake's Chase Burns facing off against Trey Yesavage.
Burns allowed four runs in five innings; Yesavage allowed one run on one hit and four walks in 7⅓. The game, however, came down to the ninth inning and Luke Nowak. Wake scored five runs in the top half to take a 6-4 lead, but the Pirates' first five batters reached in the bottom half before Nowak, batting .191, finished with a hit to right field.
BIG BATS
Tennessee, the national No. 1 seed, hit four home runs in the first four innings, including Billy Amick's grand slam, in a 12-6 victory over Indiana. … Travis Bazzana homered for the second straight game in Oregon State's 5-3 win over UC Irvine. … Vance Honeycutt hit his 25th and 26th home runs in North Carolina's 6-2 win over LSU. … Jacob Hinderleider went 5-for-5 against Coastal Carolina, making him the first Clemson player with five hits in a tournament game since 2002. … Garrett Pennington homered twice for North Carolina State in a 6-game win -4 over South Carolina. … Josh Cameron hit a grand slam as Southeast Missouri State ended a nine-game losing streak in the NCAA Tournament with a 9-3 victory over Louisiana Tech.
WONDERS OF THE MOUND
Brian Holiday pitched his second straight complete game, and third of the season, in Oklahoma State's 7-1 victory over Florida. He struck out 10 and had a shutout until Jac Caglianone homered in the ninth. … Evan Aschenbeck did not allow a hit in 4 2/3 innings of relief in national third-seeded Texas A&M's 4-2 victory over Texas in 11 innings. … Jamie Arnold allowed two runs on three hits and struck out 12 in seven innings of Florida State's 5-2 win over Stetson. … Kansas State closer Tyson Neighbors threw a season-high 64 pitches in 3 1/3 innings as the Wildcats held off Arkansas 7-6. … Trey Pooser tied his career high with seven innings in Kentucky's 6-1 win over Illinois, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out seven.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
