Arizona Baseball

Arizona Wildcats begin College World Series championship round vs. Coastal Carolina

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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FINAL
ARIZONA (48-22) VS. COASTAL CAROLINA (53-17)

BEST OF THREE SERIES
GAME ONE: TODAY, 4 P.M., ESPN

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Information from media relations departments at Arizona and Coastal Carolina contributed to this report.

• Arizona advances to the College World Series finals (since best two-out-of-three format was implemented) for
the second time in program history. The Wildcats won the national championship in 2012 when it swept South
Carolina in two games.
• The Wildcats have won four previous national titles: 1976, 1980, 1986 and 2012. The program has three runner-up
finishes (1956, 1959 and 1963).
• Arizona improves to 42-28 all-time at the College World Series. The 42 victories are fifth-most in NCAA history.
• The Wildcats are 6-0 in elimination games this postseason, including 3-0 in Omaha. UA is the first team to win
six elimination games since Fresno State accomplished the feat before winning the 2008 national title.
• UA avenged historical elimination losses to Oklahoma State at the College World Series in the 1954, 1955 and
1959 College World Series.
• The Wildcats are 48-22, matching the win total of the 2012 team for fifth-most in program history.
• UA improved to 9-0 all-time when scoring first at TD Ameritrade Park.
• Arizona’s first-inning run snapped a string of 23 straight scoreless innings for OSU pitcher Thomas Hatch.
• UA’s two first-inning runs give it six in five contests at this year’s College World Series. Going back to 2012, the Wildcats have outscored opponents 14-0 in 10 all-time games at TD Ameritrade Park.
• Jared Oliva’s sacrifice fly gave him six RBI at this year’s College World Series, the most for any player in the field through 13 games. Oliva has hit safely in seven consecutive games.
• Louis Boyd doubled for the second consecutive game and third time at the CWS. He has seven postseason doubles after hitting only five during the regular season.
• Three of UA’s first nine hitters recorded a double in their first at bat. Previously, Hatch had not surrendered more than two doubles in any game this season.
• OSU relieved Hatch with two on and no outs in the bottom of the third inning. Previously, Hatch’s shortest outing was 4 innings on March 18 against Michigan.
• Zach Gibbons drove in three runs, matching his season high set April 20 against New Mexico State. Gibbons has three two-out RBI at the College World Series and has a team-high 22 for the season.
• Gibbons’ two hits give him 103 for the season, not only most in the NCAA Division I this year but also tied for
sixth-most in school single season history (Clark Crist, 1979). Gibbons has 30 multi-hit games on the year.
• Bobby Dalbec struck out six in 7 innings, giving him 33 postseason strikeouts and 18 at the College World Series. Both of those totals lead all pitchers in the respective tournaments.
• UA’s 10 two-out RBI lead the College World Series field through 13 games.
• Nathan Bannister (12-2) and Dalbec (11-5) are the first duo to register 11-win seasons since Kurt Heyer (13) and Konner Wade (11) accomplished the feat in the championship 2012 season.

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COASTAL CAROLINA NOTES

• Coastal Carolina avoided elimination three times in three days, downing TCU on back-to-back days — including a 7-5 decision Saturday night at the College World Series — to win its half of the bracket.
• The Chanticleers own the nation’s best win total of 53 victories.
Coastal Carolina pounded out 12 hits Saturday, including a home run, three doubles and a triple, while TCU managed
• In the win Saturday over TCU, Anthony Marks and Tyler Chadwick each had three hits, while Zach Remillard and Connor Owings each had two hits. Owings and G.K. Young also contributed two RBI each.
• Alex Cunningham, who suffered the loss to TCU Tuesday, got redemption Saturday and improved to 10-4 for the season. He pitched 6.1 innings, scattered eight hits and allowed four runs. He struck out three, including two key punch-outs in the fourth inning, and walked one. Overall, he threw 87 pitches, 59 for strikes.
• Bobby Holmes worked the final 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run with a strikeout.

• Coastal Carolina’s Andrew Beckwith has been named the winner of the 2016 Gregg Olson Award for Breakout Player of the Year. The crowning of Beckwith as the winner was a bit unexpected as the hurler hadn’t been named on either the semifinalist or finalist lists; however his incredible postseason performance has left little question that the Chanticleer ace wasn’t deserving of the award.
• Beckwith saved his best and most impressive performances for the end of the season on the nation’s biggest stage with a pair of phenomenal pitching performances in Omaha at the College World Series. In CCU’s first ever game at the CWS, he threw his first career complete game came as he led the Chanticleers to a 2-1 victory over top ranked Florida. In the outing he needed only 98 pitches, didn’t walk a batter and retired the last 10 batters he faced to earn the win. Five days later in the series, with his team facing elimination against third ranked TCU, he again threw a complete game, allowing only a single run in the Chants’ crucial win.
• With the wins in Omaha, Beckwith established a CCU record for wins in a season and he tops the NCAA in pitching victories with a 14-1 record. By only allowing two runs in 18 innings against the two top teams, he lowered his season ERA to 1.94 which is 18th nationally and first in the Big South Conference. He’s appeared in 25 games this season, totaling 111 1/3 innings. During his time on the hill he’s only issued 15 walks while striking out 73 strikeouts batters.

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.

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