Tucson, Ariz. – For the first time since 2012, the Arizona Wildcats have been selected to the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA Selection Committee announced Monday morning.
The Wildcats were selected to the Lafayette, Louisiana Regional, hosted by Louisiana and will be joined by Sam Houston State and Princeton, along with Louisiana. The Cats are seeded No. 2, and will play Sam Houston in the opening round, scheduled for Friday at Louisiana. Game time is set for 11 a.m., MST and will be streamed online by ESPN3.
All games in the Lafayette regional will be available on ESPN3. ESPNU will also provide Bases Loaded coverage, where it will drop in on various games.
This will mark Arizona's 38th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since capturing the national championship in 2012 off a 10-0 postseason run. The selection comes in coach Jay Johnson's first season as coach of Arizona.
The Wildcats finished the regular season Sunday afternoon at Hawaii with a 5-3 win. With the victory, Arizona went 38-20, marking the most regular season wins by the program since also winning 38 in 2012 and 2008. The 38 wins by Johnson also mark the most ever by a first-year coach at Arizona. Jerry Kindall held the previous high, winning 37 in his debut season in 1973.
Arizona's strong season was led by excellent play from its senior class. On the mound, right-handed pitcher Nathan Bannister finished the regular season 9-2 with a 2.72 ERA, winning six of his last eight starts. Offensively, seniors Zach Gibbons, Cody Ramer and Ryan Aguilar paced the Cats all season. Gibbons finished second in the Pac-12 with a .385 batting average. Ramer led the conference with eight triples and finished second in hits with 83, one behind Gibbons. Aguilar finished with 18 doubles, tied for the second most in the league.
In their most recent regional, Arizona went 3-0 at home at Hi Corbett, beating Louisville twice and Missouri once. Prior to that, Arizona was in the College Station Regional in 2011, hosted by Texas A&M. The Cats went 3-2, eventually losing to the Aggies in a winner-take-all game 3-0. In 2010, the Cats traveled to Fort Worth for the TCU regional, going 1-2 and eventually being eliminated by Baylor.
Lafayette, Louisiana Regional Schedule
(All games on ESPN3 or Bases Loaded Coverage on ESPNU)
Friday, June 3
(All times MST)
Game 1: 11 a.m.: No. 3 Sam Houston State vs. No. 2 Arizona
Game 2: 5 p.m.: No. 4 Princeton vs. No. 1 Louisiana
Saturday, June 4
Game 3: 11 a.m.: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Game 4: 5 p.m.: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Sunday, June 5
Game 5: 11 a.m.: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4
Game 6: 5 p.m.: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5
Monday, June 6
Game 7 (if neccessary): 5 p.m. Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6
