Arizona rallied after losing a 4-0 lead on Sunday to defeat Houston 6-5 and avoid being swept in its final home series of the season. The win keeps Arizona a game behind Texas Tech and two behind Kansas State in the race for the final two Big XII Tournament berths.
Arizona opened the scoring in the second inning when Jackson Forbes reached on a fielder's choice that scored Andrew Cain. Cash Brennan scored later in the second inning on a Houston error. Arizona added two more runs in the third to extend its lead to four runs.
Cain hit a sacrifice fly to score Beau Sylvester and Carson McEntire singles to score Brennan to push the Arizona lead to 4-0. Arizona lost the lead in the sixth inning when Houston scored five runs after starting pitcher Evan Brandt left after pitching five scoreless innings.
An Antonelli Savattere single, a bases-loaded walk by Xavier Perez and a Carson Sabathia sacrifice fly cut the Houston deficit to 3-2. Blake Fields singled in Perez and Savattere to give Houston the lead. Jackson LaLima flew out to centerfield to end the sixth inning.
Arizona tied the game in the seventh inning when Maddox Mihalakis doubled home Beau Sylvester to tie the game at five. Freshman Joe Forbes, the brother of Jackson, put Arizona ahead in the bottom of the eighth in his third start of the season, with a solo HR.
Arizona is at Oklahoma State, Kansas State at Central Florida and Texas Tech at Cincinnati in the final weekend of the regular season. Arizona has to finish a game ahead of Kansas State and/or Texas Tech to earn the final Big XII Tournament berth. Kansas State and Texas Tech both hold the tiebreaker over Arizona.
Arizona plays at 4:00 PM Mountain Standard Time on Thursday and Friday at Oklahoma State and 10 AM on Saturday. The Big XII Baseball Tournament begins on Tuesday, May 19, with the ninth through 12 seeds playing and the winners advancing to the second round.
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