Departing senior Matthew Martinez finds valuable lessons amid hard times for UA baseball

Martinez walked a year ago — only to subsequently find out he’d have another year of eligibility. That bonus season enabled him to add a different sort of experience to his time as a Wildcat.

A year after going to the College World Series, the Wildcats have fallen on hard times. Injuries have ravaged the roster, and Arizona (17-30, 7-17 Big 12) is no lock to even qualify for the 12-team Big 12 Tournament that starts May 19 in Surprise.

But Martinez has learned that hard times can teach valuable lessons. He was reminded of that by the coach of another UA squad.

“We actually had a team dinner last night, and Tommy Lloyd talked to the team,” Martinez said after Arizona’s 8-6 win over New Mexico State on Wednesday. “He was saying that you probably learn more through this losing season than you did last year being in Omaha.

“You learn a lot more as you're losing because you (have to) figure out ways to get better, you're forced to — because you want to win. I feel like we've learned more this year. It sucks losing, obviously. But I think it's going to be better for these guys in the future, these young guys. We’ve got a lot of young guys on the team, so it's gonna be good for them.”

UA coach Chip Hale remained committed to that youth movement Wednesday, starting five true or redshirt freshmen. They included right-hander Jack Lafflam, who started on the mound and allowed just one hit in four scoreless innings.

Martinez earned the win, his first of the season, by putting up a zero in the top of the seventh. He has served many roles this season, pitching in midweek games, weekend games, early-inning situations and high-leverage scenarios.

“Whatever we need, he's there,” Hale said. “He never has said, ‘Hey, I can't go, my arm hurts.’ He's going to throw if he had to throw with his left hand.

“He's the leader on the bench when he's not pitching. I'm really happy to see him get some really important outs this year in big games for us.”

Martinez has appeared in 18 games. The changeup specialist has a 6.17 ERA but has recorded 35 strikeouts in 23⅓ innings. He fanned a career-high seven batters in three innings in Arizona’s season opener vs. Stanford on Feb. 13.

Martinez didn’t expect to be back for another year but benefited from recent rule changes regarding junior-college players. Martinez began his college career at South Mountain Community College before transferring to Arizona in 2024.

He met his fiancée, Alexandra, at South Mountain. They had to push their wedding back to this December because of Martinez’s extra season. It was a worthwhile sacrifice.

“It's been a blast,” Martinez said of his time at Arizona. “Both my parents went to school here down at U of A, so it was a dream of mine to come here and play baseball.

“It's been a dream come true, honestly, and it's been so much fun. I've had best time playing for Chip Hale, (with) all my teammates over the (past) few years, making memories. I'll remember it for the rest of my life.”

Bailey out for year

The injury bug that has plagued the 2026 Arizona baseball team has claimed another victim.

Right-hander Smith Bailey, a Freshman All-American last year, is being shut down for the season.

Bailey exited his start this past Saturday at Kansas after two innings after experiencing discomfort. Hale announced Wednesday that Bailey won’t pitch again this season. Arizona has two more weekend series before the Big 12 Tournament.

“He's got some soft-tissue stuff,” Hale said. “Everything's checked out so far, all the images they've done, it looked good. So it's just a matter of rehabbing it.

“But the problem is, once you shut a guy down, to get him back going again ... every day is probably two days to get back. So it's going to be at least a week before he picks up a ball.”

Bailey had a standout freshman campaign, going 3-3 with a 3.94 ERA and helping Arizona reach the CWS. He’s 3-4 with a 4.67 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 61⅔ innings this season.

Bailey is the fifth pitcher and 10th Wildcat overall to suffer a season-ending injury this year.

With Bailey out, left-hander Luc Fladda will move up a day and follow Owen Kramkowski in the rotation. Right-hander Collin McKinney, who finished Wednesday’s game, is a possibility to start Sunday if he isn’t needed earlier in the weekend.

Beau knows hitting

No Wildcat has been hotter at the plate lately than catcher Beau Sylvester.

Sylvester smacked two home runs Wednesday. He has hit safely in 17 of his past 18 games, raising his batting average from .266 to .338.

“If you watch him take batting practice, he hits the ball as hard anybody on our team — as hard as anybody in the country,” Hale said. “He is not getting cheated. He's swinging. Even when he doesn't get a hit, he's at least getting his three swings up there. So he's dangerous, and he's confident.”

Sylvester credited two factors for his recent success. The first is not putting too much pressure on himself.

“Playing for anything but myself,” Sylvester said. “Coaches, players, the team, parents, brothers — just thinking about anybody but me. Just taking myself out of it.”

Sylvester also is playing more than he ever has. Wednesday marked his 34th appearance of the season, including 33 starts. He had 33 total starts over three seasons at Oklahoma State.

“It helps a lot,” said Sylvester, who recently was granted an additional year after missing most of 2024 because of a knee injury. “Seeing things and then waking up and seeing them again, it's a lot easier to find timing, adjustments.

“It's kind of night and day. I feel like I can make adjustments pitch to pitch, at-bat to at-bat, day to day. I'm not searching as much.”

Inside pitch

– Freshman right-hander Benton Hickman exited Wednesday’s game in the ninth inning after feeling discomfort in his biceps. Sylvester noticed that Hickman was shaking his arm and signaled for the team trainer.

– Lafflam’s outing was the best of his UA career. He could pitch in the final regular-season series at Oklahoma State and/or in the Big 12 Tournament should the Wildcats qualify. “He looked great,” Hale said. “Sixty-five pitches was going to be it, and four innings max, and he did it. Very proud of him. He threw his breaking ball for strikes. He threw his fastball where he wanted to. I thought the fourth inning, when he hit the (leadoff batter), it's like, ‘OK, here we go.’ (But) he was able to rein it in.”

– Freshman Cash Brennan started at third base for the second straight game and had two hits and two RBIs. Brennan has a career-best six-game hitting streak. Hale still views Brennan as a shortstop long-term. Offensively, Brennan brings speed and athleticism that Arizona otherwise lacks.

– Hale said senior Maddox Mihalakis will be back in the lineup at some point during the Houston series, which will be his last at Hi Corbett Field. Mihalakis has sat out the past two games. After batting .279 last season, Mihalakis is hitting just .203 this year.

– Arizona and Texas Tech are tied for 12th place in the Big 12. Houston (20-28, 4-20) is last but remains mathematically alive for the conference tournament. The Cougars took two of three from the Red Raiders in early April. They subsequently suffered sweeps against BYU, TCU and Cincinnati.