Arizona Baseball gets back to winning, with back-to-back sweeps

TUCSON, AZ- The Arizona Baseball team (26-24, 12-14) gets back to winning, after sweeping USC and Sam Houston State in back-to-back series.

It’s been a season of ups and downs for the Arizona Baseball team, but it appears the Wildcats have a found a bit of a groove again!

Coming off a tough Tuesday evening loss to rival, ASU, the Wildcats returned to action on Friday evening, when Arizona took on Pac-12 foe, USC.

Arizona Wildcats

With Randy Labaut on the bump for the Cats, Arizona began the series with the hopes for big things, and early on, it was all Arizona!

Holding the Trojans scoreless in the first half inning, the Wildcats’ offense came alive in a big way, exploding for five runs!

First it was Cameron Cannon who would single through the left side to score Donta Williams. Just a batter later, Nick Quintana would clear the bases on a three-run home run that put the Cats in front by a dominating, 4-0 lead!

Dayton Dooney would come up next, sending a solo shot to right field to give Arizona the 5-0 lead after the first inning.

Luckily, the offensive barrage wouldn’t cease…

USC would get on the board in the third and fourth inning scoring back-to-back runs in the innings, but a dominate fourth, fifth and sixth inning by the Wildcats would put Arizona in front 12-2!

Pitchers Randy Abshier and Cameron Haskell would come on in relief, holding the Trojans to just one hit and one run over the course of the last two innings to help secure the 12-4 victory by the Cats!

Labaut would ultimately pick up the win, improving to 6-3 on the year. Offensively, it would be Cannon and Quintana leading the way, going a combined 7-11 from the plate with seven RBI’s and two home runs.

On Saturday, the Wildcats would hope for another big game, but unfortunately would have to wait, as the game was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Instead, the game was moved to Sunday, as the Wildcats and Trojans would schedule to play a double-header to make up for the postponed game.

Picking back up on Sunday, the Wildcats took to Hi Corbett field, with Andrew Nardi on the mound.

From the start, Arizona got off to a quick, 1-0 lead, when Dooney would reach on a fielding error that would score an Arizona run!

However, the lead wouldn’t last long, as the Trojans came storming right back, when they would score three runs in the top of the second to make it 3-1.

Luckily, Arizona wouldn’t go quietly, plating two runs in the third inning on a Ryan Holgate home run.

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The next inning, the Wildcats would add three more, starting off with a Quintana double that scored Cannon to make it 4-3.

Designated hitter Tony Bullard and Dooney would both ground out in the inning that scored Arizona runs to make it 6-3, Cats!

Arizona would add runs in the sixth and eighth innings, to virtually put this one away for good, as the Wildcats went on to win by a 8-5 final!

Freshman Quinn Flanagan would come on in relief, picking up his sixth win to improve to 6-3 on the year, as he would pitch five-and-one-third innings, surrendering just two runs on five hits.

Junior Vince Vannelle would pick up the save, his second on the year.

Unfortunately, the double-header would be cancelled as USC would head back home, and Arizona would settle for the two-game sweep instead.

Arizona would make up for the lost game, with a double-header from Sam Houston State, when they came into town on Monday!

The Wildcats would turn to Avery Weems in game one, as the senior would put together a solid performance as Arizona routed the Bearkats by a 14-7 final!

Weems would pick up the win after pitching the complete game victory, improving to 4-5 on the year, while surrendering just three earned runs on 10 hits.

Dooney would lead the Cats offensively, going an impressive 2-3 from the plate with five RBI’s, including a two-run home run in the first!

Game two would be another dominant performance by the Cats!

Sophomore pitcher Gil Luna would get the start for the Cats, but was pulled after just throwing five pitches.

He would be replaced by freshman George Arias, Jr., who would throw four, solid innings, surrendering zero runs on three hits, en route to his first win on the season.

Offensively, Arizona would score seven runs in the second, followed by eight runs in the fourth inning as the Wildcats paced themselves to the 16-2 win in just seven innings played.

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Cannon and Dooney would lead the way with four RBI’s apiece, as the two went a combined 4-7 from the plate. They would also each have a home run in this one!

Quintana would have quite the day as well, going 2-3 from the plate with three RBI’s.

With the win, the Wildcats improved to 26-24 on the season (22-10 at home). While their time at Hi Corbett is done for 2019, the Wildcats will hit the road, facing Penn State in a three-game series that starts on Thursday, followed by a three-game series against the last place Washington State Cougars next week!

Great opportunity for Arizona to end the season on a high note and build momentum towards next year!

At Zona Zealots, it’s great to see the Wildcats get back to winning, and hope this helps to continue their momentum moving forward. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!