Kyle Conley rounded the bases for a home run for the 19th time this season.

This one, though, was different from the 18 before and the 41 he had hit in his career.

It was an inside-the-park homer — the first and only of his career — and it gave him his 42nd career shot, which is enough for him to tie with Ed Erickson for first on the UW’s all-time home-run list.

“It was a big moment,” UW head coach Ken Knutson said. “The guys were jacked up, and we’re glad he’s got it.”

But that would be the only thing the Washington baseball team celebrated in the second game of a three-game set against the Wildcats yesterday.

The Huskies, looking to keep their postseason hopes alive, did what they had to do Saturday to defeat the Wildcats 9-3.

But, when the pressure rose during yesterday’s game, the Dawgs faltered and collapsed in a crushing 10-7 loss at Jerry Kindall Field in Tucson, Ariz.

Washington (25-26, 13-10 Pac-10) will likely have to win all of its remaining games — one more against Arizona today and three next weekend against Washington State — in order to be considered by the NCAA tournament selection committee. But it’s not a sure shot for the Huskies, who today played like they didn’t belong in the postseason after blowing a 7-4 lead in the eighth inning.

“We just had a bad inning,” Knutson said. “We played really well up to that point, had control of the game, [but] we just didn’t throw strikes.”

Washington got into trouble in the early going yesterday after starter Forrest Snow gave up two solo home runs in the second inning to give Arizona the 2-0 lead. Snow didn’t get a chance to see the third inning, as Knutson pulled Snow in favor of Ben Guidos.

Knutson said he was doing what was necessary to give his team the best chance to win.

“Snow was on a little bit of rest, and Guidos was rested and ready to go,” Knutson said. “So we went with him.”

The decision was a good one for the next few innings as Guidos pitched scoreless third, fourth and fifth frames, while Washington added one run each in the third and fourth to tie the game up at 2-2.

In the third inning, Brendan Gardner-Young tripled in David Bentrott from first, and in the fourth, it was Aaron Russell who laced a double to center field to score Jake Rife.

They added another run in the top of the sixth to make it 3-2, but Guidos faltered in the bottom half, giving up two runs with one out and prompting Knutson to bring in freshman Seth Haehl to stop the bleeding.

But the Huskies fought back, knowing full well that they needed to continue to win to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004.

Second baseman Pierce Rankin and designated hitter Jake Rife drove in runs on extra base hits, and Conley smacked his 19th homer to give the Dawgs a 7-4 lead.

All things were set for another UW victory, but Seth Haehl, Tyler Cheney and closer Brian Pearl combined to give up six runs in the eighth inning after five hits, one walk and a throwing error by Rankin.

“We’ve been pretty good out of our bullpen late,” Knutson said. “But we made a couple of errors; our guys didn’t throw strikes. Just all the ingredients for a big inning.”

Washington will finish off its series against Arizona (26-24, 9-14 Pac-10) today, then heads to Washington State on Thursday for a last chance to prove their worth to the selection committee.

Reach reporter Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.