Arizona Baseball drops first game, Finished up First Road Trip

The 2018 Arizona Baseball season is officially underway, as the Wildcats cap their weekend tournament in San Diego, California.

It was a successful opening weekend for the Arizona Baseball team over a week ago. Inclement weather ultimately delayed the first pitch another day, but it surely didn’t spoil fans watching.

Regardless, Arizona got to work early on the season, essentially picking up from their success last year.

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Junior Cody Deason took to the mound in game one of Saturday’s double header, delivering an absolute dominating performance, pitching seven, strong innings, surrendering just three hits and zero runs.

Offensively, the Wildcats would start off cold in game one, but their bats came alive in the bottom of the eighth, when Cal Stevenson would single to left field, scoring freshman Donta Williams from third.

Alfonso Rivas would be the very next batter to come up and really begin to increase the Wildcats’ lead. Rivas would drive a two-run single up the middle of the field, scoring two runs. Arizona would take the 4-0 lead at that point, ultimately sealing the 4-0 win for the Wildcats.

In the second game of that double header, Arizona’s offense came alive much sooner, tacking on three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Junior pitcher Michael Flynn, took to the mound in game two, pitching five and one-third innings, giving up just three hits and no runs.

Bryant would hit a homerun in the sixth inning, but that would be their only run in this one. Arizona would scatter two more runs over the sixth and seventh innings, pacing themselves to a 5-1 victory.

Stevenson and junior outfielder Mitchell Morimoto would go a combined four of seven from the plate, driving in three of the four earned runs by the Wildcats.

On Sunday, going for the three-game sweep, Arizona came out swinging. From opening pitch, the bats unloaded for the Wildcats.

Arizona would take a three-run lead early in the first inning, and then adding four more runs later in the third inning, taking a 7-1 lead.

The Wildcats would add three more in the bottom of the eighth, pacing themselves to the 10-1 victory and 3-0 start to their season.

Heading into this past weekend, Arizona was going to have a tough challenge on its hands, not only playing some quality baseball teams, but playing four games in five days.

First up was Arkansas. It was a slow moving game from the start, as both teams struggled to get anything going offensively. Finally in the fifth Arkansas scored a run, which would ultimately be all they needed in a 1-0 victory for the Razorbacks.

Wildcat pitcher Randy Labaut would throw a stellar game, pitching seven innings, giving up just three hits and one run, but wouldn’t get the run support needed to pick up the win.

On Friday, the Wildcats would return to the diamond, taking on San Diego State. From the start, Arizona got their offense going early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first. However, the Aztecs would bounce back right after that, tying the game at two apiece.

Not much would happen after that, until the tenth inning, when San Diego State would win in walk-off fashion off a wild pitch.

Needing to get some offense going, the Arizona bats came alive on Saturday against Michigan. Flynn would take to the mound on Saturday, but would struggle early on, before getting pulled in the fourth inning. Luckily for Flynn, Arizona’s offense got hot and stayed hot.

Trailing 5-4 heading into the seventh inning, Arizona outfielder Alfonso Rivas would drive a two-run, giving the Wildcats the go-ahead and eventual victory.

Arizona would beat Michigan by a 9-5 final. Rivas would lead the offense, going three of five from the plate, driving in six of the Wildcats’ nine runs.

On Sunday, in the final game of the weekend series, Arizona faced Jay Johnson’s old team, the University of San Diego. After a hot, offensive game, the bats went cold again for the Wildcats.

Junior pitcher Avery Weems took to the mound on Sunday, but it was Arizona’s defense that faltered allowing a couple errors that led to Torero’s runs. Weems would finish with six innings pitched, allowing four runs (one earned).

The Wildcats offense however, couldn’t find much consistency, ultimately falling short in a comeback bid to win.

Arizona lost that final game by a 5-3 final.

With the tough weekend, the Wildcats fall to 4-3 on the season. The good news is that after a long trip in Southern California, Arizona will return home to the friendly confines of Hi Corbett Field.

Arizona will face New Mexico State in a single game on Tuesday.

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At Zona Zealots, we’re proud of the way the team competed this past weekend, especially against some good teams. We hope for the Wildcats to get back on track this week! Bear Down, Arizona!