Arizona Baseball aka Bat Cats, off to a hot start in Pac-12 play
The No. 17 ranked Arizona Baseball team (15-4, 4-1) is getting off to a hot start to begin Pac-12 Conference play.
Arizona Baseball is off and rolling in Pac-12 play, starting with a winning series in Berkeley last week, where the Wildcats took two of three from the Bears. They have now doubled up on that number, winning the first two games against Stanford.
A good start on the road.
First-year coach Chip Hale has to be pleased with the team’s performance in conference play so far. In the Cal series, the Wildcats dropped the first game by one 9-8, then cruised to the next two wins with offensive outbursts, winning 10-4 and 13-5 respectively. Thus far, these two games with the Cardinal have been quite different from those results.
Stanford (9-7, 1-4), ranked 10th nationally, has watched the Bat Cats come back on them late in two consecutive games, with Sunday’s game at Hi Corbett being a particularly dramatic one.
Cats rally for five in the eighth
Down four coming to bat in the eighth, the UofA put the first two runners on base on infield singles from catcher Daniel Susac and right fielder, Tanner O’Tremba. Then Cats left fielder, Chase Davis, blasted a three-run homer into left-center field, chasing the lefty starter, Quinn Matthews.
Now down only one, the Wildcats proceeded to scratch out two more runs and hold Stanford scoreless in the ninth.
Holden Christian (2-1, 2.89 ERA) got the win, keeping the Cardinal from scoring in the eighth and blanking them in the ninth. Christian came into the game with two outs after Trevor Long gave up his first two earned runs of the year in the eighth on two solo homers from Stanford to make the score 5-1 for the Cardinal. Then the Cats staged their second late comeback in two games.
With a series win already guaranteed, the Cats will go for the sweep tonight, with the last game of the series scheduled to be played at Hi Corbett at 6 pm. Whatever happens, these Cats are off to a good start, winning their first two series in conference play.
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