2016 CWS: Arizona Overcomes Loss Of Bannister To Beat Oklahoma State

OMAHA—This postseason, senior righthander Nathan Bannister has pitched Arizona through a regional—starting two games in a three-day span. He’s pitched the Wildcats past Mississippi State, the No. 6 national seed, in a super regional, and he’s pitched Arizona past Miami, the No. 3 national seed, in the College World Series.

But with two outs in the third inning Friday against Oklahoma State, Bannister could pitch no more.

Forty-seven pitches into his start, Bannister felt discomfort in his right forearm, some tightness similar to what he felt a couple of summers ago in the Cape Cod League. The team is optimistic that the injury isn’t serious, but Bannister left the game as a precaution, nonetheless.

That early exit could’ve spelled trouble for an Arizona team already somewhat thin on pitching. But head coach Jay Johnson gathered his players in the dugout between innings and reminded them, “nobody wants to win more than Bannister, so go out and do it for him.”

So the Wildcats regrouped for “Banni,” as they call him, piecing together the remaining innings on the mound between righthander Kevin Ginkel and lefthanded closer Cameron Ming. Even more impressively, the Wildcats found a way to generate offense against a Cowboys pitching staff that hadn’t yet allowed a run in two games in Omaha.

In a 9-3 win, the Wildcats scored more runs than any other team has in the 2016 CWS thus far, making up for the loss of Bannister on the mound and forcing one more bracket title game with Oklahoma State on Saturday.

“Offensively, we went back to work on some things yesterday and had the best day at the plate that anybody in the tournament has had,” Johnson said. “And (we) looked very much in character for what I’ve seen for 65 or 66 games since we’ve been here. So we’re excited about it. Regroup and get ready for tomorrow.”

The Wildcats were one of the two CWS teams Oklahoma State had blanked before Friday, falling 1-0 to the Cowboys and starter Tyler Bufett on Monday. Senior Zach Gibbons said the Wildcats were conscious of Oklahoma State’s pitching prowess coming into the game, and they focused on offensive fundamentals leading up to it.

“I definitely think just getting our pitch,” Gibbons said. “The first time we faced them, we were swinging at the pitcher’s pitch instead of ours. During BP we were working on the middle of the field. You can’t go wrong if you’re driving the ball middle of the field. I definitely think it was getting our pitch and working the middle of the field.”

A simplistic approach, but clearly, on Friday, it was an effective one. The Wildcats racked up 14 hits, chasing freshman righthander Jensen Elliott from the game after just two innings and forcing the Cowboys to make five calls to the bullpen after only making one in their previous two games.

The Wildcats applied pressure from the very beginning, with their dynamic duo at the top of the order—second baseman Cody Ramer and Gibbons—getting on with a walk and a single, respectively, to lead off the game. Three batters later, Ramer came around to score on a two-out RBI single by DH J.J. Matijevic.

Gibbons, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, said that first run provided relief, and that feeling only heightened with two more runs in the next inning, one of which Gibbons knocked in with a single.

But those positive feelings, at least for a brief moment, all came crashing down in the third, as the entire infield, Johnson and the athletic trainer gathered around Bannister in the third. A workhorse for Arizona all season, Bannister is the first pitcher in college baseball to throw more than 140 innings (142 1/3) in a season since East Tennessee State’s Kerry Doane threw 147 in 2013. His 20 starts are the most in the NCAA since 2012.

When asked if he thought he was overworked, Bannister said “absolutely not.” He credited the training staff and the team’s throwing program, and said he’s in the best shape of his life. He said the last time he felt this sort of discomfort in his arm, all he needed was rest.

“It just didn’t feel right, so I thought giving the ball up would be a better option,” Bannister said. “At first (I was disappointed), yeah. But we’re up 4-0 at the time. Anyone on this pitching staff knows how to pitch, especially with our coaching staff putting our defense in the right spots and (pitching coach Dave) Lawn calling the game. So I had tremendous faith in our pitching staff.”

Ginkel, the first man out of the bullpen, recorded the final out of the third but allowed the Cowboys to sneak back into the game with a two-run fourth, buoyed by a Conor Costello triple.

But then Ming ran out of the bullpen in the fifth inning, and—as he’s done the entire postseason—shut the opposition down. Using an upper 80s fastball and a slider, Ming retired the first 12 men he faced before running into a spirited Oklahoma State rally in the ninth that produced one more Cowboys run, but at that point, the game was already well in hand.

Ming said Bannister’s exit was somewhere in the back of his mind, but he knew he couldn’t dwell on it.

“You kind of have to not think about it, as much as it sucks, that Banni came out of the game early,” Ming said. “You have to set that aside keep working as a pitching staff. You have to piece it together. Ginkel did a good job. And I took over. And after the game you kind of get with Banni and hope everything’s good.”

While the Wildcats were able to figure out the pitching situation on Friday, Bannister’s injury has the domino effect of thinning out the staff for Saturday’s do-or-die bracket title game, starting with Ming, who threw 79 pitches and is surely unavailable.

Johnson, who’s played his pitching decisions close to the vest, didn’t outright name a starter for Saturday. Two-way junior Bobby Dalbec, who threw eight innings of one-run baseball on Monday and played third base Friday, appears to be the likely choice.

“I’ll be good,” Dalbec said. “I got four days of rest, played a couple days but didn’t have too many plays. I’ve been doing it all year. I know how to take care of my arm and be ready for something like that.”

Oklahoma State, who lost for the first time in the postseason, has a far fresher staff and will send ace righthander Thomas Hatch to the mound Saturday, who hasn’t allowed a run in his last 26 innings—23 in the NCAA tournament.

“We feel good about that,” Cowboys coach Josh Holliday said. “On full rest, fresh.

“And what they say in baseball: Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher. We’ve got a pretty good one.”

Johnson said the Wildcats feel good, too, even if their pitching situation seems shakier.

It’s been that way for most of the postseason—the Wildcats are used to overcoming the odds. Friday was no exception.

“For me, it’s perfect,” Johnson said. “I mean, this is us. You’re picked ninth out of 11 or 10 out of 11 (in the Pac-12) from a couple of publications—good. That’s great. Good thing that it matters what happens on the field.

“You go into two really hostile environments in Lafayette and Starkville. You fall into the loser’s bracket—great. It’s still about the play. And our guys have been awesome at focusing on what they can control and what’s really important.”

The Wildcats couldn’t control the loss of Bannister on Friday—but they took care of the rest.