• About UANews
• Sign up for News
• Resources for Media
• Calendar
• Contact Us

The 2008 Ann Arbor regional title marked Arizona’s 16th all-time championship in regional play and second under head coach Andy Lopez.

By University Communications
June 4, 2008

The University of Arizona baseball team had advanced to the NCAA’s Super Regional Tournament.

Arizona (41-17) earned its ticket to the Super Regional Tournament with a 5-3 victory over Kentucky on Sunday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wildcats will play against number one seeded Miami Hurricanes (50-8) who won their home regional with 11-2 triumph over Mississippi.

The Cats-Canes three-game series will be played in Florida Friday through Sunday at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables with game times scheduled for 4 p.m. (MST) on Friday and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. A 4 p.m. time has been set for Sunday, if necessary.

The super regional match up will be shown live on ESPN's family of networks.

The Wildcats have played in just one super regional since the NCAA changed the postseason format in 1999.

The Wildcats swept their way through the Ann Arbor Regional defeating No. 4 seed Eastern Michigan, 13-7, host school Michigan, 4-3, and No. 3 seed Kentucky, 5-3.

The Wildcat’s regional victory was Arizona’s 16th in school history and its second under current head coach Andy Lopez. Lopez has guided the Arizona baseball program to back-to-back 40-win seasons for the first time since 1985-86.

Arizona’s appearance in the regional championship game marked the fourth straight postseason the Cats have played in the title game and earned four members a place on all-regional team. They are Dwight Childs, C.J. Ziegler, Eric Berger and Jason Stoffel, all of whom were recognized for their outstanding play.

Stoffel, a sophomore who earned three saves over the course of Arizona's three regional games, was named the regional MVP. Stoffel took over sole possession of the single season saves record at Arizona and moved into a tie with former Wildcat Mark Melancon for the all-time career mark.

Arizona’s bullpen trio of junior right-hander Ryan Perry, junior left-hander Daniel Schlereth and right-handed closer Stoffel are among the top three collegiate arms coming on in relief in the nation this season. Combined the trio have teamed up to go 11-5 with 15 saves and 217 strikeouts in 169 innings of work, while limiting the opposition to a .199 batting average.