Luc Fladda and Corey Kling combined on a seven-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts as Arizona won the opening game of its series against BYU 6-0 on Thursday night. Arizona scored two runs each in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to earn the win.
Fladda pitched 6.2 innings allowing six hits with 11 strikeouts. Kling pitched the final 2.1 innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts. The combined performance was exceptional, as neither Fladda nor Kling issued a walk.
A Beau Sylvester single to score Caleb Danzeisen and Andrew Cain in the fourth inning was all Arizona needed. A Danzeisen single scored Carson McEntire, followed by a Nate Novitske groundout to first to score Cash Brennan and extend the Arizona lead to 4-0 after four innings.
A T.J. Adams single scored Cain and Brennan in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Arizona a 6-0 lead and close the scoring. Arizona and BYU both left seven men on base. Six of the seven men BYU left on base came with two each in the first, third and seventh innings.
BYU inability with runners in scoring position
Luke Anderson led off the game with a single. Easton Jones singled with two outs, but Crew McChesney was caught looking for the second strikeout of the first inning by Fladda as he stranded two.
In the third inning, Bryker Hurdsman doubled with two outs. Ryder Robinson followed with a single to third base, but Fladda got Jones to fly out to end the inning. Fladda retired the next 11 BYU batters before allowing a one-out single to Tu'alau Wolfgramm in the seventh inning.
Keoni Painter followed with a double, but Wolfgramm was unable to score. Fladda struck out Patrick Graham with Painter on second and Wolfgramm on third for the second out before being relieved by Kling. Kling forced Patrick Graham to foul out to end the inning.
Kling allowed a leadoff single in the top of the eighth inning to Anderson before inducing a double play by Hurdsman as the next batter and got six consecutive outs to end the game. Arizona and BYU play on Friday night at 6 PM Mountain Standard Time before concluding the series on Saturday at noon.
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