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Arizona Baseball: Improbable College World Series Is Start of New Wildcats Era
Published by Adam Wells on June 26, 2012
It took 25 years and a long rebuilding effort from head coach Andy Lopez, but the Arizona Wildcats are back on top of the mountain in college baseball.
There was a time when the Wildcats were one of the most dominant programs in baseball. From 1976-1986, this program won three College World Series championships, made it to Omaha in five of those 10 seasons and the NCAA tournament in six of those 10 seasons.
After the 1986 championship, the program dipped in quality. There were still pockets of success, particularly in the 1990s, but nothing like what it used to be.
Even during the early years of Lopez's tenure—he took over as head coach in 2002—Arizona was having a difficult time moving out of the middle of the pack in the mid-2000s.
In 2005, the team finally made it to the NCAA tournament, losing in the regionals. Then in 2008, the Wildcats had one of their most talented teams in recent memory. Bleacher Report - College Baseball
Article is property of BleacherReport.com
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