Unprecedented move designed to snap losing streak

By Craig Degel

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Following his team's current losing streak, which reached six games with a 6-1 loss to Cal State-Fullerton Sunday, Arizona baseball coach Jerry Kindall knew something different was going to have to be done Ä immediately.

So for the first time in recent memory, Kindall and the team snubbed the postgame talks with the media for a closed-room meeting.

"The meeting was to encourage players in the sanctuary of our own locker room," Kindall said of his unorthodox decision. "At the moment, we have some guys who need a lift."

Many of Kindall's players come from successful high school or junior college programs and are not accustomed to losing. Russ Brown and Colin Porter played for Arizona state champion Canyon Del Oro High School in Tucson last year. In 1993, platoon third baseman Kevin Corley played for Greenway High School in Phoenix, a team that was named national champion.

"The longer you play, the more likely you are to run into slumps," Kindall said. "Right now, we're in a team slump because we're not doing the necessary things."

The Wildcats are getting on base, but are leaving runners on in bunches. Through the weekend, the Wildcats were hitting .295 as a team and are getting on base at a .400 clip.

The glaring statistics that have contributed most substantially to the Wildcats' 4-7 start are runners left on base and errors. Through 11 games, Arizona has left 96 runners on base and committed 36 errors.

The Wildcats will try to correct their problems this afternoon at 2:30 in the first game of a two-game series with Cal State-Dominguez Hills at Sancet Field. Dominguez Hills returns five everyday players from a team that split a doubleheader with the UA in 1994.

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