Arizona Baseball: Wildcats rally but fall to Trojans in game 2

In game two of a three-game series, the Arizona Baseball team took on the Trojans in Downtown Los Angeles and came up short. Game three today. 

Arizona Baseball’s new head coach Jay Johnson has done an excellent job this season galvanizing his team by making his dugout the best place to be on the University of Arizona campus. We can add to that, the best place to be on any University campus.

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The Wildcats had beaten the Trojans the previous night in a highly contested game which came down to the ninth inning when the Cats scored three runs to take the lead and never looked back. Bobby Dalbec brought the Cats home with his pitching and hitting. They had just won their sixth consecutive game.

On Friday night, the score was the same, 8-5, but USC ended up on top breaking the Wildcats streak of winning six games. Needless to say, the team was very disappointed in the loss. That said, they gave it a good Wildcat effort, and started coming back in the ninth inning, a little too late, but still made for an exciting game.

It was Arizona who put runs on the board first. In the first inning,  Cody Ramer and Zach Gibbons both singled, and Ryan Aguilar’s hit brought them home to put the Wildcats up 2-0. The Cats have been able to score in the first inning four times in the last six away games. Impressive.

USC answered with one run, still behind 2-1 to the Wildcats. And there the score stayed until the fifth inning when the Trojans scored six runs.

The Trojans huge fifth inning began with Arizona’s pitcher JC Cloney on the mound. After a combination of hits with a bat and a player hit with the ball, Corey Dempster, David Oppenheim, and Timmy Robinson combined for two runs putting USC in the lead 3-2, but they were not done.

Johnson decided to go with pitcher Matt Hartman. Hartman’s first batter somehow got hit in the face with a pitch, ouch. The second batter he pitched too, Ramirez, hit a grand slam home run adding four runs to the three on the board that put the Trojans up by 5, 7-2.

USC added one more run in the sixth, and Arizona added one in the seventh inning, Cats still needed five runs to tie. 8-3 USC.

On Friday, the Wildcats seemed out of contention for a win but rallied back in amazing fashion to be the Trojans 8-5. Tonight they would rally again in the ninth inning. Right fielder Zach Gibbons has been stellar for the Wildcats, and tonight was no different. He went 3-4 with one walk, an RBI and scored a run.

Bobby Dalbec did his share by hitting a beautiful double, and the Cats scored two runs.

The Cats would not score again, and the Trojans walked off with the win. Series now tied at 1-1.

ZonaZealots was there both nights and spoke to some of the players after the game. We spoke about team chemistry and why Wildcats fans have to go to Hi Corbett to watch and cheer on their Cats. This team is something special and Wildcats fans should not miss a second of their exciting season. Stay tuned for a great video and interview with some of the players.

Related Story: Arizona Baseball: Wildcats come from behind, trounce Trojans

The Cats are now 28-15 on the season with sixteen games to go, ten of them in-conference. There are two crucial three-game series coming up, both at home against Oregon State and then rival Arizona State the team wants you there to get your 3-2 rally towels and cheer them on. After that, they travel on the road to Eugene for one last in-conference series against the Ducks. BearDown Arizona! Beat the Trojans today and take the series!