The way Arizona baseball coach Jay Johnson tells it, you’d think Alfonso Rivas III has ice in his veins.
He’s a freshman, and freshmen may smash the ball or deliver timely hits, but there always seems to be a nervous energy about them, like they’re reciting “Don’t Fail, Don’t Fail, Don’t Fail” if only to themselves.
Not Rivas.
On March 26, he strolled to the plate with the Wildcats trailing UCLA 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth and two runners on base. On a 2-1 count, Rivas delivered a single up the right side, tying the game.