Arizona Baseball gets back to winning with sweep over Oregon

TUCSON, AZ- Arizona Baseball (22-23, 10-14) gets back to winning, with a much-needed sweep over the Oregon Ducks this weekend.

It’s been a season of ups and downs for the Arizona Baseball team, as the Wildcats were losers of seven of their last eight heading into the weekend. Finally, their luck would change against Oregon.

Coming into Friday, with Randy Labaut on the mound, who knew we would be in store for such a game!

Arizona Wildcats

Starting off slow, things would be tied 0-0 through the first two innings, before we saw the first action of the game. First, it was Oregon that exploded, scoring five runs in the top of the third to take a commanding lead early.

Luckily, the Wildcats got to work quickly, scoring five runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie it. At first, it was Nick Quintana that drove in a double that scored Austin Wells. Then it was Tony Bullard that singled, scoring Quintana to make it 5-2.

Then it was Dayton Dooney followed by Justin Wylie driving in runs to make it 5-4, before Donta Williams would hit a sacrifice ground out that tied the game at 5-5.

Oregon would get one back in the top of the fourth, to take the lead at 6-5, but BIG back-to-back innings by the Cats in the seventh and eighth inning, helped put this one away for good for Arizona. The Wildcats would score 12 runs to over their last two innings to come away with the 17-6 win!

Labaut would pick up the win, after pitching seven solid innings, surrendering five earned runs on seven hits while striking out four to pick up his fifth  win of the season, improving to 5-3.

Wells would seemingly lead the day, going 2-4 from the plate, with three RBIs. Quintana, Dooney, Bullard, Branden Boissiere and Wylie would finish with two runs each.

Game two would be a bit of a different story. With Andrew Nardi on the mound, the Ducks would get to work quickly, scoring five runs in the first inning to take a convincing lead.

It would take awhile, but luckily Arizona wouldn’t go quietly. Still trailing 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Wildcats would finally respond.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Bullard would get the Arizona offense going, blasting a homerun to left field. Just a few pitches later, it was Blake Paugh who would send one to left field as well, making it 5-2.

Three innings later, it was Arizona again, unloading for five runs to take the lead at 7-5, highlighted by a three-run homer by Quintana that tied the game at 5-5.

Oregon would regain the lead at 8-7, but not fortunately for the Cats, they would come away with some late game heroics, when a Wells triple in the bottom of the ninth would tie this one up at 8-8, sending it to extra innings.

Holding the Ducks scoreless for the first two innings in extras, finally we’d have a winner, when Arizona would eventually score off an error in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Wildcats came away with 9-8 victory.

Gil Luna would pick-up the win in this one, improving to 2-2, as he closed out the game for the Cats. Offensively, Arizona would be led by Paugh and Quintana, going a combined 4-9 from the plate with a six RBI’s.

With the series win secured, what could be sweeter than going for a much-needed sweep? Well, that’s when Arizona would turn to the freshman, Quinn Flanagan for the start.

From the first pitch, we were in store for a wild one. Despite the Wildcats falling behind 1-0 early, Arizona would respond with a HUGE, eight-run inning in the first, followed by a seven-run second inning to make it 15-1 Cats.

With Oregon doing their best to come back in this one, Arizona wouldn’t relent in their offensive effort, scoring a run in the third, and another seven in the fourth to make it 23-4.

Oregon would score three more runs, but Arizona would add five more runs in the bottom of the seventh, to put close this one out, winning 28-7. Oregon would call the game after the eighth inning, when the Ducks had to catch their flight.

Flanagan would pick up the win in this one, pitching just four innings, while surrendering zero runs, while improving to 5-3 on the year.

Offensively, seemingly everyone got in on the action, with Quintana, Boissiere and Wells with five, four and four RBI’s respectively. Cameron Cannon, Wylie and Dooney would have three RBI’s each as well.

Amazingly, Arizona would score 28 runs, despite hitting no home runs in this one!

With the win, Arizona improves to 22-23 on the year, with just 11 games remaining. If Arizona is to make some kind of run, they need to keep winning, and what better way to start, than in a mid-week, non-conference match-up versus rival ASU on Tuesday evening at Hi-Corbett.

At Zona Zealots, we’re just glad to see our Cats still battle, and hope they can continue off this momentum! Bear Down, Arizona!