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Arizona had just lost to ASU 8-4 in front of another big crowd at Phoenix Municipal Stadium and a national-TV audience on ESPN2.

Never mind that the Wildcats already had won the series without their best player (Brendan Summerhill) and another of their starting outfielders (Easton Breyfogle, who did make one pinch-hitting appearance). They had frittered away a 4-0 lead, and Hale wasn’t having it.

I don’t blame him for feeling frustrated, especially in the immediate aftermath of a game in which Arizona struck out 17 times, committed two errors and misplayed a routine fly ball. Nothing perturbs Hale more than bad at-bats and shoddy defense.

But even Hale would concede that if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture of this UA baseball season, it’s undeniably promising.

At 22-9 heading into a home game Tuesday night against New Mexico State, Arizona is four games ahead of last year’s pace. Last year’s team ended up winning the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles.

That club was just getting rolling right about now. It was in the midst of an 11-game winning streak that would flip its record from 10-13 to 21-13.

Baseball seasons are long and winding. They always feature ebbs and flows. Arizona had one hot streak already, winning 19 of 21 games from Feb. 18-March 26. The Wildcats were due for some regression — especially without Summerhill. They’ve gone .500 without him. If they can continue at that pace — or slightly better — while he’s out, they’ll be fine.

The original projection for Summerhill’s return was 3-4 weeks. The injury occurred March 23. That means he conceivably could be back for the BYU series, which starts April 17.

But UA coaches and trainers are likely to be conservative when it comes to Summerhill’s comeback. The last thing they’d want is to push him out there when he’s not ready; that wouldn’t help the team or Summerhill’s draft stock. ()

Knowing Summerhill, I’m sure it’s killing him to not be able to play. But again, you have to look at the bigger picture here. With the injury occurring as early as it did, he and the Wildcats have the benefit of time.

Without Summerhill at the top of the lineup — where he was an absolute force through 23 games, slashing .409/.500/.656 with a positive walk-to-strikeout rate — Arizona still took two of three at ASU over the weekend. Few saw that coming. Of the 11 D1Baseball staffers who predicted the outcome of the series, .

That pleasantly surprising outcome enabled the Wildcats to stay on the .667 winning-percentage pace Hale seeks in conference play. Only one of their remaining six league opponents, TCU, is above .500 in the Big 12 (although this week’s foe, Oklahoma State, is starting to turn it around after a rough start).

Despite the overall outcome in Phoenix, Arizona’s issues weren’t limited to Sunday. The Wildcats struck out 14 times in each of the first two games, giving them 45 for the weekend.

It’s the third time this season Arizona has fanned 10 or more times in three consecutive games. Remarkably, the Wildcats won two of three on all three occasions.

Strikeouts are more accepted in modern baseball — Hale fanned only 68 times in 652 plate appearances in his MLB career, 1989-97 — and ASU reliever Cole Carlon looked like a first-round pick while punching out 10 over 4⅓ perfect innings Sunday. But it’s not what Hale or hitting coach Toby DeMello preach. Hale advocates hitting the ball low and hard. And good things happen when you put it in play.

“We’re a long way from where we need to be,� Hale said Sunday. “We’ll just keep working at it.�

I still believe Arizona’s lineup will be better than last year’s once Summerhill and Breyfogle return. Transfer Aaron Walton has been a tremendous addition, consistently taking quality at-bats while also providing pop out of the 2-hole. And junior catcher Adonys Guzman is the most improved hitter on the team, raising his batting average from .265 to .336 while quadrupling his home run total (from one to four) in fewer-at bats.

Arizona’s starting pitching isn’t as strong as last year’s, although that isn’t unexpected. Clark Candiotti, Jackson Kent and Cam Walty were an exceptionally reliable trio. They combined for 21 quality starts (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs). The current weekend starters have just two, one apiece by Collin McKinney and Owen Kramkowski.

The Wildcats need to get more mileage out of McKinney if he’s going to remain the Friday-night starter. The transfer from Baylor has electric stuff. But he’s pitched more than 4⅔ innings only once because of an inflated 6.2 BB/9 rate. That’s too many walks.

Friday nights have become a piggyback situation with Casey Hintz following McKinney, and it’s worked for the most part: Arizona is 6-2 on Fridays, and Hintz is 6-1. But because Hintz has had to pitch so many innings on Fridays, he’s generally been unavailable to throw on Sundays.

I wasn’t surprised Kramkowski came within an out of pitching a complete game Saturday. His advanced metrics (FIP, XFIP, SIERA) and the eyeball test suggested he’d been the victim of bad luck in previous outings. He did a superb job of keeping the ball down vs. the Sun Devils, inducing 15 groundouts vs. four flyouts.

Kramkowski, a sophomore, and Sunday starter Smith Bailey, a freshman, have bright futures. But I have some concern they’ll wear down late in the season. Neither has had this type of workload, and both are still developing physically. It’s all the more reason McKinney needs to work deeper into games to preserve the bullpen.

Pitching coaches Kevin Vance and John DeRouin are experts when it comes to managing their charges; they’ve implemented elaborate, extensive workout routines to mitigate arm injuries. UA pitchers mostly have avoided them over the past 1½ seasons.

When the lineup gets back to full strength, I can see Arizona going on another hot streak. Despite the Wildcats’ record so far — — they’re capable of playing better.

“I think we have a lot more in the tank,� senior first baseman Tommy Splaine said.

Agreed.