Feb. 7, 2004
Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz.- The No.16-ranked Arizona baseball team rallied for four two-out runs in the bottom of seventh inning to overcome a three-run deficit and defeat UC Riverside, 9-8, on Kindall Field at Sancet Stadium on Saturday. The come-from-behind win was the second in as many days for UA and improved the Wildcats to 2-0 on the season. UCR fell to 1-5 with the loss.
Trailing 8-5 in the seventh, the Wildcats rallied for the win around a pair of walks to junior Jeff Van Houten and senior Moises Duran, a slew of lineup changes and three clutch hits from the left side of the plate.
With two out and two on, Wildcat skipper Andy Lopez made the first move in a game of percentages with UCR head coach Jack Smitheran. Arizona freshman right-hander DJ Lewis was announced as the pinch hitter for lefty classmate Bill Rhinehart. Smitheran countered the UA substitution by pulling southpaw reliever Haley Winter in favor of right-hander Chad Decker. Without a pitch being thrown by the Highlander reliever, Lopez pulled back Lewis for sophomore left-hander Derek Decater.
Decater came up big with a two-run triple down the right field line to cut the Highlander lead to 8-7. With right-hander Richard Mercado scheduled to bat after Decater's clutch hit, Lopez played the odds again by sending lefty Jordan Brown to the plate. The sophomore pinch hitter grounded Decker's 0-2 offering through the right side of the infield for a single to plate Decater.
With the game tied at eight runs apiece, Lopez continued his lineup shift lifting Brown for pinch runner Terrence Taylor. The speedy senior easily stole second and came around to score the go-ahead run on Pat Reilly's game-winning single.
Sophomore John Meloan and junior Derek Rodriguez closed the door over the final two innings on the mound. Meloan (1-0) picked up the win, working two innings of hitless relief, and Rodriguez earned his first save of the season with 1 /13 innings of work. Riverside's Winter was tagged with the loss, surrendering two runs on three hits without recording an out.
UCR jumped out to its ill-fated lead with three runs in the top of the first, single runs in the fourth and fifth and three more in the sixth. Arizona countered with a pair of runs on Jason Donald's first collegiate home run, a two-run shot, in the first, one in the fifth and two in the sixth before finally taking the lead in for good in the seventh.
UA's Reilly led all players at the plate, going 3 for 4 with two RBIs on the day. Rhinehart and Mercado each paired hits, finishing 2 for 3 with run scored and 2 for 2 with a RBI and a run scored, respectively. UCR's Tony Festa went 3 for 4 with a RBI and a run scored.
The Wildcats, who wrapped up the series win with Saturday's victory, will go for the three-game sweep on Sunday. Redshirt sophomore Luis Cortez will take the mound for the Wildcats in the 1 pm game.
