March 1, 2011
Arizona 10, Rice 8 (Box Score)
TUCSON, Ariz. - After seeing an 8-0 lead evaporate into a tie ballgame in the top of the eighth inning, the No. 17 Arizona baseball team scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning to reclaim the lead and go on to defeat No. 21 Rice, 10-8, on Tuesday evening at Kindall Field/Sancet Stadium.
With Joey Rickard on third base and two outs in the home half of the eighth, Robert Refsnyder pulled a double down the third base line that was just out of the reach of Rice third baseman Michael Ratterree. Rickard, who walked to lead off the inning, scored on the play, and Refsnyder was driven home on an ensuing triple to right centerfield by Josh Garcia to set the score at its final, 10-8.
Bryce Bandilla, who walked in the tying run in the top of the eighth inning, earned the win as he retired the Owls in order in the ninth inning the preserve the two-run lead.
Arizona (6-1) withstood a furious Rice rally in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, aided in part by six walks issued by the Wildcats' bullpen.
Rice (5-4) plated five runs in the sixth inning, trimming UA's once commanding advantage down to an 8-5 edge.
In the eighth, Matt Chaffee allowed a single and hit a batter to put two runners on with no outs. Rice moved the runners up on a sacrifice bunt by J.T. Chargois, and Arizona elected to walk All-American Anthony Rendon to load the bases.
That was when Bandilla entered, but the closer issued a base-loaded walk to force in the tying run. But, Bandilla induced a sharply hit double play ball that was fielded by shortstop Alex Mejia near the second base bag before being relayed to first to prevent further damage.
That set the table for the rally in the bottom of the inning. Rickard, who scored the eventual game-winning run after drawing a walk, finished 2-for-4 in the game with three runs scored. The two RBI in the ninth inning were delivered by Refsnyder and Garcia, who combined to go 6-for-9 in the game with six RBI.
Rice reliever Andrew Benak suffered the tough luck loss, issuing the lead-off walk to Rickard in the eighth before being removed. Otherwise, Benak pitched 3.0 innings of scoreless relief and allowed just one hit. But, he was responsible for the eventual game-winning run.
The Wildcats struck for two runs in the first inning when Rickard led off with a single and was driven in on an RBI double by Cole Frenzel. One out later, Refsnyder collected the first of his three RBI and three base hits on the night.
The lead for the Wildcats was padded by a run in the second when Seth Mejias-Brean reached on a one-out walk and later scored on a throwing error by Ratterree.
Arizona seemed to break the game open with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth. All five of the runs were unearned in the inning, and the Wildcats actually threatened to add more as they left the bases loaded.
But the Owls had an eight-run rally of their own in mind.
Regular Friday night starter Kurt Heyer took the mound for the Wildcats to open the game. Limited on a pitch count on his regular throwing day, Heyer tossed 2.2 scoreless innings and struck out four.
He turned the game over to Konner Wade with two outs in the third. Wade was steady in relief as he entered to face Rendon, who hit 26 home runs a year ago, with two outs. Wade was able to get Rendon to fly out to end the inning before turning in consecutive 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth.
Wade ran into some trouble in the sixth, loading the bases on two walks and a single. He was replaced by fellow freshman Daniel Ponce de Leon, who was able to get a couple quick outs before surrendering a base hit and two walks.
Left-hander Matt Chaffee relieved Ponce de Leon with two outs in the sixth, but gave up a two-run single. He bounced back with a strikeout to put a temporary stop to the damage with an 8-5 lead.
However, the Owls continued to chip away at the deficit in the seventh. Chargois reached on a fielding error by Mejias-Brean to open the inning. Jeremy Rathjen had an RBI single and Ratterree later added a sacrifice fly to put the Owls within a run of the Wildcats with one out.
Chaffee was able to evade further trouble, picking up the second out of the inning with a strikeout of Ryan Lewis. Then, Chaffee got some defensive help from left fielder Johnny Field, who made a diving catch on a soft liner to end the inning.
The two nationally-ranked teams will wrap up the two-game mid-week series on Wednesday evening. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at Kindall Field/Sancet Stadium.
