ASU comes to Tucson on Tuesday night
Beating a team three times is hard enough, taking all four is even tougher. And after cranking out 21 runs the night before, Arizona’s offense looked like it didn’t have anything left in the tank for the finale against Pepperdine.
Down 3-0 and held scoreless through the first five innings, despite getting the leadoff man on each time, the Wildcats finally broke through to beat the Waves 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Hi Corbett Field. It was their 11th win in the last 12 games after an 0-3 start and improved their home record to 8-0, the best start to a season since winning the first 10 at Hi Corbett in 2018.
“This probably helps us a heck of a lot more of this game than last night’s game, because we’re able to battle back,” UA coach Chip Hale said, referring to Saturday’s 21-2 victory. “We talked to them last night, a lot, about that game’s over, we got to move on.”
Arizona (11-4) couldn’t do much against Pepperdine starter Dylan Stewart beyond getting the first guy on, going 0 for 14 with runners on base. The story changed once the Waves (3-13) went to the bullpen, with the UA loading the bases to start the 6th on two hits and a walk.
Adonys Guzman came off the bench and brought in a run on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 but that was it for the rally. In the 7th, however, after not getting the leadoff guy on the Wildcats had the next four guys reach, with Garen Caulfield tripling to right-center on the first pitch he saw with the bases loaded for a 4-3 lead.
“My family and I call it the honey hole,” Caulfield said of the right-center gap. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I consider myself a good gap to gap hitter. That’s my approach.”
Maddox Mihalakis then brought Caulfield in with a sac fly to make it 5-3.
Freshman right-hander Smith Bailey allowed three runs in 5.2 innings, striking out six but walking three. He had only issued one walk in his previous three starts.
“I thought there was a time there where he was sort of wasn’t his best and I thought he turned it on towards the end, and he had much better stuff,” Hale said.
Garrett Hicks came on to finish the 6th and then threw a scoreless 7th to earn the win, making him 3-0 in a team-high eight relief appearances. The junior college transfer didn’t become a full-time pitcher until his time at Pima College.
“Just kind of get in there and compete,” Hicks said. “And when you compete, it’s gonna go your way most time. If it doesn’t, it’s baseball.”
Hunter Alberini threw a perfect 8th and then Tony Pluta pitched the 9th for his second save. Pluta allowed a pair of 2-out singles, doubling the number of baserunners he’s allowed this season, but kept his ERA at 0.00.
“I think the pitch stuff is rounding into shape, and guys are kind of finding their roles,” Hale said.
Arizona continues its season-long 9-game homestand Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT against ASU. It’s a nonconference game—the ones that count toward the Big 12 standings are April 4-6 in Phoenix—but no less important.
“It’s a big deal for us,” Hale said. “We want to win. We’re going to play to win. We’re going to pitch our best guys.”
ASU is 12-4 after sweeping Gonzaga over the weekend. The Sun Devils took two of three in Tucson last season with Arizona winning the final game of the series and then a midweek at ASU.