FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—Baseball, maybe more than any other sport, is a game of rituals and traditions. For Arizona’s position players, they always huddle together after the coaches give their pregame pep talk, ending with their version of the Chicago Bulls’ “game time” chant.
The Wildcats’ pitchers?
“They’re always doing stuff out here, like playing catch,” shortstop Nik McClaughry said, pointing to the outfield.
But that all changed prior to the final regular-season road game, May 14 at conference champ Stanford. Coming off a lackluster 9-2 loss the day before—“we just sort of laid an egg,” coach Chip Hale would say—McClaughry and his fellow hitters decided to include their pitching teammates in the huddle.