Although the No. 10 Arizona baseball team finished its only scheduled series with No. 2 Texas this weekend, Longhorns coach Augie Garrido would not be surprised to see a rematch.
"He said, 'We'll see you in Omaha, Andy,' and I said, 'I hope you're right,'" said Arizona head coach Andy Lopez.
The weekend had a playoff feel to it, as the Longhorns took two of three closely contested games at Sancet Stadium this weekend.
Texas (17-1) squeaked out a 5-4 win over Arizona (12-5) yesterday.
The Wildcats took Saturday's contest, 8-3, after falling by the same 5-4 score Friday evening.
All weekend long, Arizona failed to execute, leaving 21 runners on base in the two losses.
The Wildcats trailed 5-3 heading into the ninth yesterday against Longhorns closer J. Brent Cox (2-0, four saves).
Sophomore shortstop Jason Donald tripled to start the inning. Junior center fielder Chris Frey followed with a little dribbler back to Cox, but he slipped and could not make the play.
After freshman second baseman Brett Scyphers struck out trying to bunt, Texas second baseman Robby Hudson threw high to second on a ball up the middle hit by junior left fielder Trevor Crowe, allowing Donald to score and cutting the lead to 5-4.
Junior third baseman Brad Boyer struck out, and senior outfielder Jeff Van Houten walked to load the bases for junior first baseman Jordan Brown, the team's RBI leader with 28.
Brown grounded out weakly to first on the first pitch, sending the Longhorns home with the series victory.
"He got me on a slider out(side) my last at-bat," Brown said. "He rang me up on that, so I was just thinking anything on the outer half. He left me a slider, and I didn't get around on it."
Senior Sean Rierson (2-1) turned in another solid outing in a losing effort, holding Texas to three runs in 4.2 innings.
After allowing two fifth-inning runs to put the Longhorns up 3-1, Arizona could never battle back.
Arizona got its only win of the series Saturday after a seven-run second inning blew the game open. Two errors by Texas' Clay Van Hook led to five unearned runs in the frame.
Junior Kevin Guyette (3-1) did his part, allowing three runs in six innings.
Junior Sean Jarrett closed the game out, throwing three hitless innings.
Trailing 4-2 with two outs in the seventh and Cox on the mound Friday evening, Frey tied the game with a single up the middle, scoring Brown and Hundley on the throw to tie the game at four.
It stayed that way until the ninth, when sophomore closer Mark Melancon (0-1) got what appeared to be an inning-ending ground ball from Chance Wheeless with runners on first and second.
Sophomore second baseman Lee Franklin took too much time throwing to second, and Van Hook beat the throw.
Melancon hit No. 9 hitter Robby Hudson with a pitch in the next at-bat to bring home the winning run.
"Our guys up the middle just put that thing on cruise control," Lopez said. "You ask Melancon to go in there and get a ground ball, and I'm not all that wrapped up in Melancon hitting a guy ... I'm more wrapped up in (that) the premises of this program is to show up and play hard. We didn't play hard on that one particular play, and it cost us."
While Texas executed, scoring three runs on one hit through the first three innings after capitalizing on an Arizona error, the Wildcats left 12 men on base.
"They're a real good team, and when you make so many mental mistakes like we did, you're not going to win," Hundley said. "In a game of this magnitude, when we know they're a real quality opponent, we've got to be better than that."
Despite Texas' impressive pitching, senior outfielder Van Houten (23 games) and Brown (17 games) both extended their hitting streaks.
The team reached its highest attendance figures of the season, drawing an average of 2,550 per game, including a season-high 4,644 Friday evening.
Because Arizona had many opportunities to win both games it lost, Lopez said the team does not take solace in giving Texas its first loss.
"We want to win two out of three every time we suit up," he said. "We'll get there. We will be better from this weekend."
With this series as a building point, Arizona aims to be more experienced for another potential matchup with Texas in June.
"I might be crazy, but I think we're headed in the right direction," Lopez said. "We played the No. 1 team in the nation (in the Collegiate Baseball poll) right to every pitch in three games."