TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Pac-12 regular season champions, with the Pac-12 coach of the year.
All in the final year of the conference as we know it.
“That's the sad thing about it," Arizona Baseball Coach Chip Hale said. "When you start talking about those awards you start thinking 'boy, that’s the last time this conference is going to be able to do that'.”
Hale made conference history as the first to win both Player and Coach of the Year in baseball.
Pair that honor with the program’s sixth regular season title.
The title comes after a 4-3 walk-off win over Oregon State in their final match up at Hi Corbett Field.
“I grew up watching this program and other Pac-12 programs win that kind of conference championship and it’s pretty cool to experience it firsthand," Arizona Infielder, Garen Caulfield said.
The team went bananas... literally.
“I have no comment on the bananas, I don’t know what’s going on," Hale said.
The fruit has quickly become a symbol for Arizona Baseball.
“I still to this day don’t even understand what’s all going on in there (the dugout) but it’s great energy for us," Caulfield said.
Ranked number one in the Pac-12, the Wildcats will be peeling out to Scottsdale Stadium for the final Pac-12 Tournament.
“Our attitude going in is we want to win every game," Hale said. "We want to win every inning, every out. So, we’re going to do our best to win it.”
And Hale reminds his players just how important nine innings can be.
“In pro ball if you’re out of the game or you don’t have a good start to it, you have 144 games in the minor leagues and 162 in the big leagues, so be it—but every game is the World Series in college," Hale said.
In Pool 'A' with ninth seed, Washington and sixth seed, Cal: The Wildcats take on the Huskies Wednesday night at 7.
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Erin Patterson is a reporter for KGUN 9. She's agraduate of the University of Alabama with a Bachelor’s in News Media with a Sports Concentration. Erin recently obtained her Master's Degree in Sports Journalism from Arizona State University at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, where she gained experience a sports reporter, anchor and producer. Share your story ideas and important issues with Erin by emailing erin.patterson@kgun9.com.
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