Following an emotional series win at West Virginia last weekend, one that required almost a whole game’s worth of extra innings and saw a key player go down with an injury, a midweek game against a sub-.500 opponent didn’t exactly scream marquee matchup.
And it almost ended up being a disaster for Arizona.
The Wildcats (19-5) beat Seattle 8-6 on Wednesday night, improving to 14-0 at Hi Corbett Field this season, but it was far from a pretty victory. UA pitchers walked seven batters, hit two more and the Redhawks had the go-ahead run on base in the top of the 9th inning.
“That is a byproduct of a tough, tough weekend, long travel, and (pitchers) we were trying to stay away from,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “We pitched a lot of guys that hadn’t pitched a lot. We’re trying to give other guys chances.”
A night after six ranked teams lost midweek games, Arizona—which climbed into the D1Baseball Top 25 at No. 23—never trailed but did cough up a 4-1 lead and nearly lost an 8-4 advantage entering the 9th.
Arizona used nine pitchers, with five throwing effectively including starter Michael Hilker Jr. (two innings, one hit), Kenan Elarton (two innings, one hit, three strikeouts) and Tony Pluta, who struck out the game’s final batter after coming on with the bases loaded and two runs already in to earn his fourth save.
But Christian Coppola only retired one of four batters he faced, throwing only four strikes in 18 pitches, and Julian Tonghini walked three with a hit batter before getting pulled in the 9th.
“That’s this midweek deal,” Hale said. “You saw it last night, we talked to the team, there’s a ton of upsets of big-time teams by other teams. You cherish wins. There’s no bad wins, obviously, but we’d like to see some of our guys be able to put up some zeros.”
Arizona’s offense generated 11 hits, three by catcher Adonys Guzman, as well as a trio of home runs. Garen Caulfield had a 2-run homer in the 3rd, Aaron Walton hit a solo shot in the 6th and Easton Breyfogle hit a 2-run blast in the 7th.
For Breyfogle it was his first game since suffering a quad injury running out a ground ball on March 11. His return comes just as Arizona will be without another outfielder, Brendan Summerhill, who fractured his hand on Sunday and will miss a month.
“Great timing for us,” Hale said of Breyfogle. “The home run tonight was huge for him, and he’s running well, that’s a big thing for him, so hopefully he’ll continue and with no more injuries for him.”
Arizona returns to Big 12 action Friday when it starts a 3-game series with Baylor (17-7, 2-4). The Wildcats are tied for first in the conference with a 5-1 record.