Arizona Baseball: Wildcats got their mojo back with a sweep against the Huskies

After losing six straight Pac-12 conference games, the Wildcats came back home and swept the Washington Huskies.

Home sweet home! There is something about playing in front of your home crowd that gives you the edge when the game is close. This was true for the Wildcats as they were able to pull through and get the key conference series sweep late in the season.

On Friday night, game one was a close one and took a walk-off two-run homer by Cal Stevenson to win it 5-4. A little fun fact, this was the first walk-off homer for the Wildcats since moving to Hi-Corbet field in 2012.

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The game went back and forth early on. Jared Oliva hit a two run RBI in the third to give the Wildcats an early lead. The Huskies then took over the lead in the sixth inning and that’s when Stevenson provided some Friday night magic with a walk off home run. And its outta here!

Stevenson finished the game 2-3, including the game-winning home run (his fourth home run of the season). Wildcat starting pitcher JC Cloney had a solid performance as well. He threw 91 pitches, three strikeouts and allowed six hits and three runs.

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In game two, the Wildcats had another solid outing with a 3-1 win. The highlight of the game was Wildcat pitcher Cameron Ming who threw a complete game (the first one of the season for the team). Ming threw exactly 100 pitches and at one point retired 14 consecutive batters – that will win you some games!

Cesar Salazar hit a two-run HR in the fourth inning to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Later in the game, the Huskies ended up scoring in the sixth inning to end Ming’s 14 consecutive retired hitter streak. Kyle Lewis hit a squeeze in the bottom part of the inning to send Nick Quintana home and a 3-1 lead. Any fan or player would love Wildcat Coach Jay Johnson style here!

Ming didn’t allow any more runs to give the Wildcats the 30th win of the season. He finished the game with six strikeouts and NO WALKS!

In game three, the Wildcats had the idea of “sweep” in mind – who doesn’t?! This game ended up being quite the battle. With multiple lead changes, several CRUSHED home runs, errors, issues with the wind, full use of the bullpen and even a few drops of rain (yes it does apparently sprinkle in May in Tucson).

The Wildcats were down 11-7 in the bottom of the ninth and came back to win with a wild walk-off hit by Quintana – never count these guys out!!

JJ Matevic led the team with two, two-run home runs, including this one that was absolutely just crushed straight away center over the 405 wall – OH MY GOODNESS!!

Early on the defense was solid, with plays like this from Stevenson, who showed off his throwing arm to get the man out at third:

There were some errors and shaky pitching by the Wildcats during the game, but coach Johnson was able to make full use of his bullpen to limit their losses.

Both teams were not shy at all with their hitting. The Cats ended up having 14 hits and the Huskies had 17. Matijevic, Stevenson, and Alfonso Rivas III led the team with three hits. Starting pitcher for the Cats Cody Deason pitched three innings and allowed three runs.

Huskies had the lead early on going into the fourth inning before Matijevic hit a two-run home to tie the game up. Huskies then regained the lead in the seventh inning, 8-7. Then it happened!

Down 11-7 in the bottom of the ninth, the ‘Walk Off Cats’ came back. They hit multiple singles, a double and ended it all with a single by Quintana who forced a wild throw to first by the pitcher – Ryan Haug and Matt Frazier score in walk-off fashion!

Highlights:

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With this win and sweep of the Huskies, the Wildcats moved to 31-15 overall for the season, 12-12 in conference play. Everyone at Zona Zealots is excited to see the Cats have their mojo back!. BEAR DOWN!

Up next for the Wildcats:

Opponent: Arizona State Sun Devils

Where: Hi Corbet Field

When: May 9th at 6 pm PST on the Pac-12 network