No. 15 Arizona Baseball dominates open weekend in Arlington

ARLINGTON, TX – Taking part in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown, No. 15 Arizona Baseball (3-0), dominated the opening weekend action. 

The 2022 Arizona Baseball season is officially here, and the Wildcats began the year with a bang, as they earned the three-game sweep as part of the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.

Coming into this weekend, there was a lot of hype surrounding the Wildcats; however, it didn’t come without some serious doubts or concerns about this team either.

As we are all aware at this point, Arizona had to replace several key players from last years’ Pac-12 Championship team, as well as their head coach Jay Johnson who spurned the Wildcats for LSU shortly after the season

Luckily, the Wildcats still have quite a few pieces entering the year, and this is still a talented group that proved they are going to have some serious offensive firepower.

And following a strong weekend by Arizona Baseball, the Wildcats may just be one of the better teams in the country.

Game 1:

Kicking off the weekend action against Kansas State, the Wildcats would turn TJ Nichols on the bump, who would finish his day pitching 4.0 strong innings surrendering five hits with one earned run, and six strikeouts.

However, it was the bullpen that would get a little roughed up in this one, surrendering four runs on four hits before Holden Christian would come on in the eighth inning to close things out, earning the first save of the season.

Luckily, it was the offense in game one that came through for Arizona in this one. The Wildcats would start things off early, as Noah Turley would hit a solo shot in the second inning, followed by two more runs in the third inning.

Arizona would continue their offensive barrage in this one, jumping out to an 8-1 lead in the eighth inning before Kansas State would come alive and make things a bit closer. Luckily, Arizona would hold on to come away with the 8-6 win.

Game 2:

Taking on Oklahoma in game two, the Wildcats would turn to Garrett Irvin who is back after a strong finish to the 2021 season.

The left-hander would have a solid day overall, pitching 4.0 innings, surrendering two runs on three hits while striking out five.

Quinn Flanagan would come on in relief for Garrett in the fifth as he pitched two-and-a-third innings for the Wildcats as he surrendered two runs on four hits, eventually picking up the win.

But like in game one, it was the offense that was the difference-maker once again, as the Wildcats plated 14 runs on 15 hits.

Sluggers Tanner O’Tremba and Mac Bingham would have one hell of a day for the Wildcats as the two combined for seven RBI’s while hitting 5-10 from the dish.

Tanner would hit the only home run in the game for the Wildcats as the junior outfielder blasted a solo shot in the seventh. Arizona would go on to win 14-4.

Game 3:

Closing the weekend action against No. 14 Texas Tech, the Wildcats would face their toughest test yet as they would turn Dawson Netz in this one. And from the start, things began slowly for both teams.

Trading scoreless innings through the first few frames, Arizona would finally come alive in the fifth when the Wildcats would explode for five runs to take a commanding 5-0 lead.

Texas Tech would get two back in the sixth inning, but fortunately for us, Arizona would hold the Red Raiders to just those two runs.

Creating more separation for themselves Arizona would plate two more runs in the seventh, followed more three more runs in the eighth, and again in the ninth.

Netz would pick up the win after throwing 5.0 scoreless innings while surrendering just three hits and striking out six batters. Arizona would get a bit of help from their bullpen here, eventually cruising to the 13-2 win.

Where does Arizona Baseball go from here?

With their weekend sweep, the Wildcats improve to 3-0 on the season and will return to action on Tuesday evening when they take on GCU at Hi Corbett Field followed by a four-game series against Milwaukee.