No. 15 Arizona Baseball earns sweep against Washington in Seattle

SEATTLE, WA – Returning to Pac-12 action this past weekend, No. 15 Arizona Baseball (21-7, 9-3) earned the sweep against Washington (14-13, 5-7). 

It was a huge weekend for No. 15 Arizona Baseball as the Wildcats earned yet another conference sweep, this time against Pac-12 foe the Washington Huskies in Seattle.

Fresh off a mid-week non-conference win over Grand Canyon, the Wildcats were back in action on Friday evening in Husky Ballpark, turning to TJ Nichols on the bump to kick the series off!

Game 1

Arizona brought the bats early and often in this one as the Wildcats plated eight runs to earn the 8-3 win.

Led by a strong effort from Wildcat superstar Daniel Susac, the Arizona catcher went an impressive 4-5 from the dish with six RBIs, two runs, and belted two home runs.

Arizona’s Chase Davis would also join the hitting action, blasting a 1-1 solo shot to left-center. Davis would finish his day just 1-4 from the plate.

Beyond the Wildcats’ hot bats, Arizona was led by a strong pitching effort from Nichols who pitched seven, strong innings, surrendering just three runs on three hits, while striking out five. TJ would pick up the eventual win, improving to 4-1 on the year.

Junior Quinn Flanagan would come on in relief, pitching two flawless innings as he held the Huskies scoreless and hitless.

Game 2

Looking dominant once again, Arizona used a complete-game effort in game two to come away with the 6-2 win, earning the overall series victory.

Arizona turned to start pitcher Garrett Irvin who looked solid overall as he pitched six innings, surrendering just two runs as the Huskies smattered six hits. Irvin would strike out five Huskies batters, but unfortunately, did not earn the win.

Chris Barraza and Holden Christian came on in relief, pitching a combined three innings, surrendering just two hits, while holding the Huskies scoreless. Barraza would earn the win, improving to 1-0 on the season, while Christian would pick up his fifth save on the year.

Arizona would take the early, 1-0 lead when Tommy Splaine homered to left field in the second inning. Unfortunately, the Huskies would respond, plating two runs in the third, taking the 2-1 lead.

Luckily, for Arizona, the Wildcats would not trail for long, using some timely hits to tie the game 2-2 after Splaine grounded out to the shortstop that scored Tanner O’Tremba from third.

Tied 2-2 late in the game, Arizona would plate three more in the eighth inning, and added another insurance run in the ninth inning to make it 6-2 before earning the eventual win.

Using some late-game heroics, the No. 15 Arizona Baseball team would pick up the eventual win and sweep of the Washington Huskies.

Game 3

Looking dominant from the start, Arizona would plate four runs in the second inning, which was largely in part due to a Mac Bingham double down the left-field line that scored three runs and made it 4-0 in favor of the Cats.

Turning to Anthony Susac on the mound, unfortunately, his day would not last long as he surrendered two runs (one earned) on four hits through just three innings pitched.

Eric Orloff would come on in relief, pitching two innings as he surrendered one run on one hit to the Huskies as Washington was able to cut the Wildcats’ lead to just 4-3 after five innings of play.

Needing some insurance runs, Arizona would respond by plating two more runs in the seventh inning when Chase Davis would triple to right-center, scoring O’Tremba and D. Susac to make it 6-3.

Unfortunately, the Huskies would go quietly here, plating three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off Arizona’s Barraza and Christian to tie the game at 6-6.

Heading into extra innings, luckily, this one wouldn’t last long for the Cats as Arizona would pick up a run in the 11th inning when O’Tremba singled to left field scoring Bingham to make it 7-6 Arizona.

Arizona’s Trevor Long would shut down the door on Washington for good in the 11th, picking up the win and earning his first win of the season to improve to 1-0 on the year.

Where does Arizona Baseball go from here?

With the series sweep, Arizona improves to 21-7 (9-3) on the year and will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Phoenix to take on rival ASU in a mid-week matchup. The Wildcats will follow that up with a three-game series against Washington State starting on Friday.