PULLMAN, WA- Wrapping up the final weekend of 2019, the Arizona Baseball team (32-24, 15-14), extends their winning streak to 10 games with the sweep!
Do we have a little more Arizona Baseball life in us? Hopefully! After beginning the year 19-23 and looking just about dead in the water, the Wildcats have become winners in 13 of their last 14 games.
Fresh off a sweep of lowly Penn State just a week ago, the Wildcats returned to baseball action with plenty on the line and hopes to continue the 2019 season!
Arizona Wildcats
Entering the final Pac-12 series of the season, Arizona traveled all the way to Pullman, WA to take on the last place Cougars of Washington State.
The three-game series began on Thursday evening with Randy Labaut on the mound for the Cats, and from the start, this would be a good one for the Cats!
Arizona would strike early and often in the Thursday night game, scoring off an Austin Wells homer to begin the game, followed by a three-run second inning, and a five-run third inning to take a dominating lead early on!
Still up 9-1 entering the fifth, Arizona would have another big inning scoring four runs, followed by a three-run sixth inning to make it 16-2 Cats!
Wazzu would get runs back in the seventh and eighth inning, but luckily the Wildcats’ offense still wouldn’t cease in this one, scoring off a wild pitch in the eighth inning. However, a four-run ninth inning would cap this one off, as Arizona would cruise to the 21-4 victory over the Cougars!
#WinnerWinner!! Cats make it 8️⃣ wins in a row with a 21-4 victory over WSU! pic.twitter.com/g9nAPhDh6B
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 24, 2019
Labaut would pick up the win here, improving to 8-3 on the season, after throwing seven solid innings, surrendering just three runs on nine hits.
Offensively, the Wildcats would seemingly get contributions every where, but it was perhaps Donta Williams who stole the show, going a perfect 4-4 from the plate with three RBI’s.
The combination of Cameron Cannon, Austin Wells and Nick Quintana would go 7-16 from the plate with 12 RBI’s!
Heading into game two, Arizona would turn to Andrew Nardi in this one. Starting off rather slowly, the Wildcats would need to battle against the Cougars!
Wazzu would jump out to the early lead, after the Cougars would score a run off a wild pitch in the second inning, going up 1-0.
The Wildcats would get the lead right back in the third inning when Cannon would belt a two-run homer in the third inning to make it 2-1, Cats. However, the lead didn’t last long, with Arizona’s pitching struggles coming to light in the fifth inning, when WSU accounted for three runs, taking the lead at 4-2.
Luckily, that didn’t last long, with Arizona’s offense exploding in the following inning, when Justin Wylie would blast a three-run shot to right-center, putting up the Wildcats 5-4, and securing the lead for good!
Arizona would explode for five-more runs in the top of the ninth inning, highlighted by a Tony Bullard double that made it 10-4, Cats, ultimately delivering the victory as well!
#WinnerWinner!! Wildcats come from behind to beat the Cougars, 10-4! Arizona takes the series and goes for the sweep tomorrow afternoon.
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 25, 2019
Cats win streak now at 9⃣#MLBTrainingGround | #BearDown pic.twitter.com/5iGxP2fxWU
Arizona’s Vince Vannelle would earn the win here, when he would come on in relief in the fifth inning, shutting the door on the Cougars’ offense, pitching two, strong innings, while surrendering just three hits. Vannelle would improve to 2-2 on the year!
Offensively, the Wildcats would be led by senior outfielder Wylie, as he finished the day an impressive 2-4 on the day, with two runs scored and four RBI’s!
That would lead us to game three, where Arizona was looking to close out the regular season strong, go for their fourth-straight sweep, and improve the resume to potentially make it to the NCAA Tournament.
Turning to the freshman Quinn Flanagan, the Cats would get to quick work in this one, jumping out to the early, 5-0 lead of the Cougars. Cannon would get things going for Arizona, when the junior would single through the left side, scoring Williams to make it 1-0.
Arizona would add four more runs in the inning to take a dominating lead! Wazzu would get three back in the second inning, followed by another run off a wild pitch in the third inning to pull them within one.
Luckily, that’s as close as the Cougs would get it, as Arizona would put this one out of reach for good thanks to a five-run sixth inning to make it 13-4 Wildcats! That inning would be highlighted by back-to-back homers from Dayton Dooney and Wylie to cap the inning!
Dooney goes BOOM!!
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 25, 2019
That's the 10th home run of the year for freshman @DaytonDooney 💪💪
Top 6 | Arizona 12, WSU 4 pic.twitter.com/c2iuHJLEPO
https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/1132393726137921536
Arizona would close out the game, ultimately winning by a 15-7 final, to secure their 10th straight win, and helped the Wildcats to close out a fantastic month of May in which the Cats finished 13-1!
https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/1132410647960907778
Flanagan would pick-up the win here, improving to 8-3 on the year, when the freshman surrendered just four runs on six hits!
Offensively it was a collective effort in this one, with everyone seemingly getting in on the hitting action! Wells would lead the team with three RBI’s, capping a terrific freshman season!
With the win, Arizona improves to 32-24 (15-14), and now will await their tournament fate. Hopefully, the Cats have done enough here in the last month to sneak into the postseason. Last year, the Wildcats were the first team left out, just barely missing the postseason.
For what it’s worth, D1Baseball has the Cats in the first five out in the tournament in their latest projections.
At Zona Zealots, we’re hopeful the Cats can sneak into the postseason this year! Hopefully they did enough in the last month to just get there! No matter what happens, we’re proud of the Cats battling and Bearing Down!