TUCSON, AZ – Kicking off the first weekend of Basketball action of 2020, the Arizona Baseball team (3-0) came out strong to sweep Albany!
Finally returning to the diamond for the start of the 2020 season, the Arizona Baseball team got off to a strong start, especially as the Wildcats swept the Albany Great Danes in three games.
Friday the action kicked off, as Garrett Irvin took to the mound and delivered five solid innings! Irvin would surrender just two runs on four hits, while striking out seven to ultimately pick up the win!
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona started out the game strong, especially as they plated two in the first inning with some timely hitting. They would later expand their lead to 6-1, when Austin Wells homered in the bottom of the second inning that plated three.
Leading 12-2 to enter the top of the ninth, things would get interesting as Cats fans got a little flashback to last seasons’ pitching struggles. Up 10 runs, Albany would begin to slowly climb back in, plating five runs before the Cats ultimately shut the door to earn the 12-7 win!
Arizona would be led offensively mostly by Wells and Donta Williams as the two went a combined 5-7 from the plate, combining for seven RBI’s.
Game two would be a bit of a different result, especially as Quinn Flanagan took to the mound, returning to his dominant form from last year.
The sophomore would finish his day, throwing seven flawless innings. Quinn would give up just two hits, holding the Great Danes to zero runs while striking out 10 batters!
Offensively, the Cats would once again start out hot, scoring four runs in the first, which would be accentuated by Dayton Dooney’s two-run homer to make it 4-0.
Two innings later, Arizona would plate nine runs in the bottom of the third, expanding their lead to 13-0 with some timely hitting.
The Wildcats would add another run in the fifth and eighth inning, before ultimately going on to win by a 15-0 final!
#WinnerWinner
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) February 16, 2020
The Cats blank Albany behind seven strong innings from Flanagan! Holgate and Dyer combine for 7 RBI in the win!#MLBTrainingGround | #BearDown pic.twitter.com/whaERHhf0G
Going for the sweep, game three would once again be another dominant performance for the Wildcats!
Turning to freshman pitcher Chandler Murphy in game three, Murphy would end his day by pitching five fantastic innings, where he surrendered three hits, but held Albany scoreless.
Much like their first two games, Arizona would come out strong again, scoring a run in the first, second and fourth inning to go up 3-0.
Albany would get two more runs back in the sixth to pull within one, but that’s the closest it would get in this one as Arizona would score three more runs to make it 6-2.
Scoring another run in the seventh to make it 6-3, the Wildcats would plate five more over the next two innings to expand their lead to 11-3 before ultimately earning the win.
https://twitter.com/ArizonaBaseball/status/1229211503644925952?s=20
Murphy would earn the win, while Wells, Dooney and Williams would go a combined 5-11 from the plate, combining for nine RBI’s.
With the wins, the Wildcats improve to 3-0 and will return to action on Monday when they take on Minnesota in Tempe, AZ and will then travel to San Diego next weekend to take on Southern Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.
At Zona Zealots, we’re excited for the return of Arizona Baseball, and hope the Cats can continue their strong play! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!