Arizona Baseball begins the 2019 season with sweep over UMass Lowell

TUCSON, AZ- The Arizona Baseball team (4-0) starts the 2019 season hot, as the Wildcats sweep visiting UMass Lowell in dominating fashion.

The 2019 Arizona Baseball season is here and the Wildcats got to quick work this weekend as they took on the visiting UMass Lowell Riverhawks.

Needing to get things rolling early on the season, the Wildcats certainly did so, as they dominated in all four-games against the Riverhawks, including their double-header victories on Saturday!

Arizona Wildcats

Friday night kicked off the 2019 season in ceremonious fashion, as the baseball program honored one of its own by retiring the jersey of former Wildcat legend and recently turned MLB Hall of Famer, Trevor Hoffman! It only seemed to get better from there on out!

From the start, Arizona looked good! The Wildcats got to quick work against UMass Lowell, as Arizona scored four runs in the first inning to take a dominating 4-0 lead. The Cats’ scoring surge was highlighted by a monstrous home run from freshman catcher/ first baseman, Austin Wells.

Wells was the first Wildcat to go yard this season, belting a three-run blast to center field. He would also have a big, first night, going three-for-five from the plate with four RBI’s.

Junior hurler Randy Labaut got the start for the Cats, throwing a solid five innings, surrendering just two, earned runs on three hits. He would also strike out five batters, en route to his first win of the season.

Arizona would pace themselves to a 12-4 win, as senior Cameron Haskell would pick-up the save. Freshman utility player Branden Boissiere would also finish the game one-for-three from the plate with two RBI’s.

Saturday would be a busy one for the Cats with a double-header against the Riverhawks. Just as soon as this one got started, it was pretty much over early on as the Cats unloaded in the first inning for 10 runs.

Never really able to keep it close, the Wildcats would completely dominate game one of the double-header, pacing themselves to a 18-4 win.

Junior lefty Andrew Nardi got his first start for the Cats on Saturday afternoon, pitching five, solid innings, surrendering just two runs on three hits, while striking out nine batters!

Freshman lefty Randy Abshier got the save for Arizona, as he finished the game pitching four innings, surrendering two runs on four hits.

Freshmen Ryan Holgate and sophomore Matthew Dyer would have monstrous performances in this one, as the two went a combined 4-7 from the plate with six RBI’s. Those two would get a home run each.

Junior infielder Cameron Cannon would also finish the game going a perfect 3-3 from the plate with two RBI’s of his own.

Game two of the double-header would be much more of the same for the Cats. Early on, the Riverhawks would take the 2-0 lead, but their surge didn’t last long as Arizona’s offense really came alive in the third inning .

That’s when a few, well-timed hits by the Cats would set-up Dyer, who would then lace a single through the left side to score two that would give Arizona the lead at 4-2. From there, they essentially wouldn’t look back, en route to the 19-4 win!

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Freshman Bryce Collins would get the start for Arizona, but he would last just four innings before being replaced by junior right-hander Vince Vannelle. Vannelle would then come in to throw three, scoreless innings, picking up the victory.

The youngsters in Dyer, Holgate and Wells would lead the way offensively, once again putting together huge performances, as the three combined for eights in 10 at-bats with eight RBI’s.

Holgate would also get his first home run of the season, sending a three-run blast over the center field wall in the fourth inning to make it 7-2 Cats.

Things would also get a little bit chippy in this one as UMass Lowell pitcher Connor Metelski would sail a pitch over Nick Quintana’s head that got the benches cleared in this one.

Going for the rare, four-game sweep, the Wildcats returned to the diamond on Sunday afternoon, with freshman Quinn Flanagan on the mound!

Despite UMass Lowell taking the 2-0 lead early on, the Wildcats responded and in a big way. Trailing 2-0 in the second inning, Arizona came alive with another big inning, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the 2nd to take a commanding lead.

A three-run third inning would essentially put this one away for good, as the Wildcats paced themselves to another, dominating win, sweeping UMass Lowell by a 20-5 final.

https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/1097313676971847681

Flanagan would pick-up the win, pitching four, solid innings, giving up just one-earned run on four hits, while striking out four.

Holgate would have another tremendous performance from the plate, going a solid, 2-5 with five RBI’s, including another home run (his third on the season already)!

However, junior Matt Fraizer stole the show on Sunday with an amazing 4-7 plate performance with six RBI’s!

Junior sensation Nick Quintana would finally come alive in the series as well, going a perfect 3-3 from the plate with two RBI’s of his own on Sunday.

With the four-game sweep, the Wildcats begin the year 4-0 against a rather inferior opponent. However, the real test starts next week, when the Cats travel to Houston to take on Rice (2-1) on Wednesday, followed by Houston (2-1) in a three-game series against the Cougars that will start on Friday and conclude on Sunday.

At Zona Zealots, we’re excited about the start of baseball, and are proud of the way the Wildcats have began the season! We’ve surely got high hopes and can’t wait to see how Arizona performs next week! Bear Down, Arizona!