Arizona Baseball gets third straight sweep after beating PSU

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Starting to find their groove in the 2019 season, the Arizona Baseball team (29-24, 12-14) gets their third straight sweep!

Finally we may be seeing some good baseball from the Wildcats! After losing nine of 11 just a few weeks ago, the Arizona Baseball team has bounced back in a big way, winning 10 of their last 11 games.

Fresh off of two-game sweeps over USC and Sam Houston State, the Arizona Wildcats traveled all the way to University Park, PA, to take on non-conference foe, Penn State in a three-game series that started on Thursday.

Arizona Wildcats

Leading the Cats in game one, Arizona would turn to junior pitcher Randy Labaut, hoping for a big performance! Seemingly having found his groove lately, Labaut would be dueling for most of the game, completely dominating the Nittany Lions in this one.

Luckily for him, Arizona would deliver another strong offensive performance, once again putting on a hitting display, as the Cats got off to a quick start in this one!

Tied entering the second inning, that’s when the Wildcats would get to work, first scoring on a throwing error, followed by a Blake Paugh single that would score Branden Boissiere to make it 2-0, Cats!

In the fourth inning, Paugh would come through again, this time doubling to center field, scoring to Dayton Dooney to make it 3-0, Arizona!

However, the scoring wouldn’t stop there, as junior slugger Nick Quintana would homer in the fifth inning to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 4-0.

Arizona would then add two runs in the sixth and eighth inning, followed by a three-run ninth inning to help pace the Wildcats to the 11-2 victory over Penn State.

Labaut would pick up his seventh win of the season, when he would pitch six-and-one-third innings, surrendering just four hits and one run, while striking out nine!

Offensively, it would be Dooney and Paugh leading the way, going a combined 5-6 from the plate, with a combined six RBI’s and a home run.

In game two, Arizona would then turn to junior lefty, Andrew Nardi. From the start it would be all Arizona, as they virtually ran away with this one from the beginning.

Leading off the game, the Wildcat offense got to quick work, as Arizona would score six runs in the first inning. Arizona would use timely hits, however, the offensive barrage would be highlighted by a Justin Wylie grand slam that would put the Cats up 6-0!

https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/1129518451146592261

The Wildcats would continue their dominance, scoring four more runs in the fourth inning, with home runs by Ryan Holgate and Austin Wells to extend Arizona’s lead to 10-0.

The offense would not stop there, though, as Arizona would adds runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings, en route to the 15-5 blow out of Penn State.

Nardi would pick up the ‘W’, throwing seven, sterling innings, surrendering just five hits and striking out seven to improve to 4-5 on the year!

Offensively, Arizona would be led by none other than freshman sensation Wells, as he would go an impressive 4-5 from the plate, with a game high, five RBI’s. Wylie of course would have a big day as well, finishing 2-5 from the plate, with that grand slam homer!

With the win, Arizona would secure the series win, but why stop there? Why not go for a much-needed/ perfectly-timed sweep?

Well, that’s exactly what the Wildcats would try and do, when they turned to freshman Quinn Flanagan in game three of the series!

For the second-straight day, Arizona would start quickly in this one! Taking a commanding, 3-0 lead early, as Quintana would get things going on a single up the middle to make it 1-0, Cats.

Mistakes by PSU would then allow Arizona to score off a walk, and then again off of a hit-by-pitch to make it 3-0 in the first inning.

Arizona would strike big again in the fourth inning. Timely hits would then put runners on the corners, setting up Donta Williams, who would single to right-center to bring in a run and make it 4-0.

Cameron Cannon would then join the hitting party, doubling in the inning to make it 6-0, Cats! Two batters later, Quintana then hit his 14th home run of the season (34th in his career) to score Cannon, making it 8-0, Arizona!

https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/1129829546096771072

The Wildcats would add another run in sixth inning, but that’s all the offense they would see in this one.

PSU would try to climb back into to it, but luckily it was too little too late, as the Cats would come away with the 9-5 win and the series sweep!

https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/1129856217881489408

Flanagan would pick up the win, improving to 7-3 on the year, after pitching six innings, while surrendering just three hits and no runs! Flanagan would also be dealing in this one, striking out eight, Nittany Lion batters!

Quintana would lead the way offensively for the Cats, finishing the day an impressive 3-5 from the plate, with four RBI’s. With the four RBI’s, Quintana is now up to 72 RBI’s on the year, and leads the conference in RBI’s. He also remains in the Top 10 in the NCAA in most RBI’s!

With the wins, Arizona improves to 29-24, and extends their winning streak to seven games, with a three-game series to lowly Washington State remaining. It’s possible if Arizona wins out, they greatly improve their chances to make the NCAA Tournament, although that could still be a long shot.

As it stands, the Wildcats are up to 44th in the RPI rankings, and have the 18th overall strength of schedule! Should the sweep WSU, who knows what could happen?

At Zona Zealots, we’re just glad to see our Cats playing better baseball, and hope they can finish out the year strong! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!