PHOENIX, AZ – Returning to action on Tuesday evening following their series loss to UCLA, No. 15 Arizona Baseball (18-7, 6-3) edged out GCU (16-10, 8-1) by a 5-3 final.
It was a battle from the start in this one as the Wildcats took on a talented GCU team in yet another mid-week non-conference game. And despite No. 15 Arizona Baseball falling behind early, the Wildcats used a late-game offensive surge to come away with the 5-3 win over the Lopes.
Led behind a strong pitching effort that included Chandler Murphy, Eric Orloff, and Holden Christian, the Wildcats held the powerful Lopes’ offense to just three runs on four hits.
However, the bigger story of the day was the Wildcats’ bat coming alive late. Led behind the stellar offensive play from Daniel Susac, Chase Davis, and Garen Caulfield, the three went a combined 6-12 from the dish, belting a home run and three RBIs.
Despite falling behind early, the bats came alive late for Arizona Baseball, as the Wildcats got back in the win column on Tuesday evening.
Trailing 1-0 as they entered the sixth inning, Arizona’s bats would finally come alive when Mac Bingham would send a 3-1 pitch to left field to tie the game at 1-1. Just two batters later, Daniel Susac would join the home run party as he took a 2-2 pitch deep to center field that gave the Wildcats a 2-1 cushion after six innings of play.
Luckily for us, Arizona’s offense would stop there as the Wildcats plated a run in the top of the seventh when a few timely hits set up Caufield who singled to left with two outs to make it 3-1.
Relying on more timely hitting, the Wildcats would add two more insurance runs in the eighth inning when Chase Davis doubled to centerfield, scoring Nik McClaughry, and again when Tommy Splaine singled to right field to score Davis, making it 5-1 and helping deliver the eventual 5-3 win!
Where does Arizona Baseball go from here?
With the win, Arizona improves to 18-7 (6-3) on the year and will return to action on Friday when they open up with a three-game series against Washington in Seattle. The Wildcats will then follow that up with a Tuesday evening game against ASU in Tempe.