Facing off with Pac-12 rival Arizona State in a marquee conference showdown, Arizona Baseball was able to find some redemption against the Devils.
With in-state rival ASU in town last weekend it was important that the Arizona Baseball team (28-13, 13-8) brought their best to Hi Corbett Field, especially after having already lost a single game 10-6 to the Sun Devils in Tempe earlier this months. Luckily, the Cats were eager to exact some revenge.
The first game on Friday was a nail-biter, with the teams locked in a tie at six runs apiece after regulation.
Arizona had started fire-baller pitcher, Sophomore T. J. Nichols on the mound. Though Nichols consistently hit 96-97 mph on his fastball, the Sun Devil hitters were able to turn a few of them around and chased Nichols in the fifth.
Sun Devils led 6-4 until the Cats got two in the eighth to even the score at 6-6 as it went into extra innings. A walk-off homer by Chase Davis ended the game in the tenth, and it was clear that the Sun Devils (20-21, 9-9) weren’t going to go down easily.
In Saturday’s game, the Wildcats did all they could to give the game away and eventually succeeded. Two errors by second baseman Garen Caulfield and other examples of lackadaisical play led to an 8-5 loss. First-year coach, Chip Hale voiced his displeasure with his team’s play after the game.
Approaching game three of the series, Hale tabbed senior left-hander Garrett Irvin for his tenth appearance of the season. Irvin went six innings of solid ball, allowing six hits and three earned runs.
Meanwhile, the Cats’ hitters were putting on a show. Leading 6-0 after three and adding seven runs in the seventh inning, they cruised to a 14-4 victory. Arizona was helped in their effort by three ASU errors.
The win kept the Cats in second place in the Pac-12, three games in the loss column behind Oregon State.
Though the Sun Devils outhit the Cats 39-34 for the series, the Arizona team made better use of their opportunities to best their rivals in two out of three games to even the series this year at 2-2.
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