PHOENIX, AZ – Taking part in another midweek tilt, Arizona Baseball (9-3) continued its winning ways as they held on to beat GCU 12-10.
Back in action following their three-game sweep of North Dakota State this past weekend, Arizona Baseball returned to the baseball diamond to take on in-state foe Grand Canyon.
Traveling all the way to Phoenix to take on the host Lopes at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark, Arizona turned to Aiden May in this one who got the start on the bump for the Wildcats.
But overall, it wasn’t a day to remember for the sophomore right-hander, as Aiden lasted just three innings surrendering four runs (three earned) on five hits while striking out just one batter.
He would eventually be relieved by Dawson Netz, Cam Walty, Casey Hintz, Chris Barraza, and Trevor Long in sequential order.
And although the bullpen wasn’t at its best, luckily, the Wildcats put on an offensive barrage in this one, plating 12 runs and 17 hits as they were fueled offensively by a myriad of Wildcat batters in their 12-10!
Although the Wildcats’ pitching got roughed up a bit late, Arizona Baseball paced itself to come away with the narrow victory!
Hoping to continue its momentum from this past weekend, it luckily didn’t take Arizona Baseball to assert its dominance in this one as the Wildcats exploded for a big first inning using some well-timed hits to make it 4-0, Arizona.
In the ensuing inning, the Wildcats continued their dominance as they exploded for three more runs in the second inning make it 7-0!
Unfortunately, that was when Grand Canyon started to rally. Getting a little sloppy in the bottom of the third, the Lopes would take advantage of the Wildcats’ mistakes as they plated four runs to cut Arizona’s lead to 7-4.
Fortunately, Arizona would get two back in the top of the fourth when some more opportune hitting set up Tucson native and former Canyon del Oro standout Kiki Romero who lined a single up the middle to make it 8-4 Arizona.
Arizona then added one more run in the same inning when runner advancements scored Chase Davis to make it 9-4, Cats!
Unfortunately, GCU would continue its offensive barrage in the subsequent innings, plating runs in the fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth innings as they tried to mount a comeback.
Luckily, Arizona came up big in the end as the Wildcats kept scoring, and Trevor Long came on in relief in the ninth to close the door on the Lopes for good as he picked up his third save of the season! Long finished the inning surrendering one run on two hits!
Arizona would go on to eventually win by a 12-10 final over the host Lopes!
#WinnerWinner‼️ Cats take the midweek over the Lopes, 12-10! 🫡 #BearDown pic.twitter.com/y2GXZoYL4n
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) March 8, 2023
Where does Arizona Baseball go from here?
With the win, Arizona improves to 9-3 on the young season and will return to action this weekend against Cal to begin Pac-12 play for a three-game against the Golden Bears in Tucson. First pitch for Friday is set for 6:00 P.M. MST!
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