OMAHA, Neb. — Earlier this season, when he was pitching well but struggling at the plate, Arizona’s Bobby Dalbec was asked whether he’d consider a professional career as a pitcher.
“No,” he replied. “I’m going to hit.”
At the very least, pitching could be a fallback option.
The UA junior, selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fourth round of the MLB draft as a third baseman, has pitched extraordinarily well in his past two postseason outings. Dalbec allowed only one run and struck out a career-high 12 batters in eight innings in Arizona’s 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State in the College World Series on Monday night.
In the Super Regional round at Mississippi State, Dalbec threw 8⅔ scoreless innings. His combined numbers from those two games: 16⅔ innings, 10 hits, one earned run, three walks and 21 strikeouts. His ERA: 0.54.
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“I thought that Bobby Dalbec was even better than he looked on film,” said Cowboys coach Josh Holliday, who knows what good pitching looks like: His team has allowed only six runs in seven postseason games.
“He had the ball dancing, spinning one way, sinking the other. He changed his patterns. He never fell into a repeatable pattern. Three quality pitches, and you’re not throwing them in any particular order. That’s why you saw some of the swings you saw.
“So credit to that young man. He was nails. And a lot of respect for him the way he handles himself. He’s got a great face. His demeanor is strong. He knows he’s good, and he doesn’t need to tell anyone about it; he just flat pitches.”
Dalbec said the two hits that produced OSU’s lone run — a double by Donnie Walton and a single by Garrett Benge — came on “good” pitches.
“That’s just the way it goes,” Dalbec said.
UA coach Jay Johnson said Dalbec’s changeup is major-league quality.
“He’s got a great future,” Johnson said, “as a hitter or a pitcher.”
Rain, rain
Arizona is no stranger to weather delays like the one that pushed back the start of Monday’s game by 2 hours and 24 minutes. The delays have been part of the Wildcats’ postseason odyssey from the start.
The UA’s NCAA Tournament opener against Sam Houston State in Lafayette, Louisiana, on June 3, was delayed for five hours. The game scheduled for the next day against host Louisiana Lafayette was rained out.
When they lost to the Ragin’ Cajuns the following day, the Wildcats had to win three games in about 27 hours. They pulled it off, advancing to the Super Regional round in Starkville, Mississippi.
The team did not return to Tucson in between and spent only 3½ days at home before traveling to Omaha.
Grateful Gauchos
You’ve heard it countless times: Act like you’ve been there before.
But what if you haven’t?
Such was the case Monday for UC Santa Barbara, which defeated Miami 5-3 for the first College World Series victory in program history.
So forgive the Gauchos and their fans if they were unaware of the proper decorum.
“Everybody is celebrating like we just won the whole thing,” UCSB coach Andrew Checketts said. “But it’s hard to act like you’ve done it before when you’ve never done it before.”
Miami’s loss dropped the national seeds to 0-4 in the College World Series.
Inside pitch
- Oklahoma State snapped Arizona’s six-game winning streak. The loss was the Wildcats’ first in seven games at TD Ameritrade Park.
- Dalbec’s 12 strikeouts tied TCU’s Alex Young in 2015 for the most in a CWS game at TD Ameritrade.
- The Wildcats’ three hits tied a season low (Washington State, April 9).
