Arizona avoids sweep with big win over Baylor on Sunday

Arizona scored 10 runs in the first inning and held on for an 11-6 victory over Baylor on Sunday, preventing a sweep by the Bears this weekend at Hi-Corbett Field. After Garen Caulfield walked to lead the game off, Aaron Walton followed with a two-run home run and Arizona chased Baylor starter Carson Bailey after 0.2 innings.

Bailey allowed eight runs, all of which were earned, with five hits and two walks and one strikeout in his shortest outing of the season. Walton later had an RBI single in the first inning that extended the Arizona lead to 7-0. Six Arizona players scored runs in the first inning and six had runs batted in,.

Baylor got on the board with a groundout in the top of the second inning. Arizona answered when White hit his second HR of the game and drove in his fourth run in the bottom of the third. That was the last run Arizona scored. Baylor knocked out Arizona starter Smith Bailey after 4.1 innings.

Bailey allowed four runs, all of which were earned on eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts before being pulled. Baylor scored one in the fourth when J.J. Kennett drove in his second run of the game. After consecutive doubles followed by a ground out in the fifth, Bailey's day ended.

Kennett got his third RBI of the game for Baylor on a groundout in the fifth to cut the Bears' deficit to 11-5. Another ground out plated the sixth run for Baylor and closed out the scoring. Baylor had chances to further cut into the Arizona lead in the sixth and seventh innings, but left a combined three runners on base.

The bottom third of the Baylor order did the most damage with eight hits in 13 at-bats with four RBIs and four runs scored. Eighth hitter Tyriq Kemp had four hits, Travis Sanders scored three runs and Kennett led Baylor with three RBIs. The last four pitchers for Baylor shut down Arizona, allowing three hits in four innings.

Five Arizona batters had multiple hits on Sunday. Walton was 3-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs, White was 3-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs and Adonys Guzman had two hits with a run scored and an RBI as the two through four hitters for Arizona were 9-15 with six runs scored and seven RBIs.

The bottom of the Arizona batting order, Gunner Geile and T.J. Adams, each had two hits and two RBIs on Sunday. Julian Tonghini pitched a perfect eighth to get the win and Tony Pluta closed the game out in the ninth inning. Arizona is at Grand Canyon on Tuesday before playing a three-game series at Arizona State next weekend.