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Diggins delivers again: Arizona ace defeats Stanford

In a season of relative inconsistencies, one UA baseball player has been consistently dominant - sophomore right-hander Ben Diggins.

Diggins, the team's No. 1 pitcher, is 7-0 on the season with a 2.63 earned run average.

Last Friday in Palo Alto, Calif., Diggins continued his winning ways, propelling the Wildcats to an 8-5 victory against Stanford, the nation's top-ranked team.

According to UA pitching coach Bill Kinneberg, the team plays with more confidence when the sophomore is pitching.

"What he does for us is raise the confidence level of each of our players," Kinneberg said. "When he goes out, we have a legitimate shot to beat whoever we play."

The Wildcats, who have been plagued by poor relief pitching all season, seem to play better with Diggins on the mound. Simply, the team can score fewer runs and still win games with the righty pitching.

"(The team) feels he will keep us in the ballgame," Kinneberg said. "Maybe it's knowing that the team doesn't have to score as many runs. He adds a little confidence to our club every time he pitches."

Diggins' accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. Baseball America, a national baseball publication, makes some bold predictions for the pitcher.

"(Diggins is) the midseason favorite for collegiate player of the year," Baseball America's John Manuel said. "The next (Baseball America) will have Diggins ranked as the No. 1 college prospect in the country."

Diggins, who is slated to start this Friday against Southern California's Mark Prior, "has just dominated people this year," according to Manuel.

The Wildcats almost took two of three games from the Cardinal last weekend. In Saturday's game, the Wildcats had a golden opportunity to take another game from Stanford, but fell short.

Trailing 6-4 in the ninth inning, juniors Trevor Mote and Erik Torres singled, putting the tying run on first base with one out.

Stanford's Jason Young then proceeded to get Keoni DeRenne. Diggins, the team's designated hitter, came to the plate with two outs and a chance to win the game. The sophomore struck out swinging, ending the game.

According to Kinneberg, the Wildcats were lucky to have an opportunity to win.

"You take that opportunity every ballgame," he said. "Ben's going to get the job done most of the time. I'll take my chances with Ben up there any time."

Sophomore right fielder Shelley Duncan injured his elbow while pitching in Saturday afternoon's loss. After facing one batter, Duncan appeared to injure his elbow.

"He hurt his elbow, and that's all we know right now," Kinneberg said. "We don't know his status at all."

According to Kinneberg, the injury does not seem serious enough to jeopardize Duncan's status as the team's starting right fielder. Duncan is the team's regular cleanup hitter.

"I don't think it's an injury where we're going to lose him as a hitter. We might lose him as a pitcher for a while."

It wouldn't be the first elbow injury to a UA pitcher.

Senior Rob Shabansky, the team's No. 3 starter, has been plagued by elbow injuries throughout his college career, culminating in reconstructive elbow surgery last season.

The senior missed all of the 1999 season due to surgery.