March 13, 2011
Arizona 2, Northern Colorado 1 (Box Score) | UA Overall Stats
TUCSON, Ariz. - The No. 14 Arizona baseball team fell behind early, but held visiting Northern Colorado hitless over the final eight innings and found just enough offense to capture a 2-1 victory and secure a series sweep on Sunday afternoon at Kindall Field/Sancet Stadium.
Arizona (13-3) mustered only two runs on 10 hits in Sunday's finale, after combining for 23 runs in the first two games. But starting pitcher Tyler Hale, despite struggling in the first inning again, grinded out five innings of work and turned over a 1-1 tie to the bullpen where Matt Chaffee and Jacob Doyle teamed up with four innings of scoreless relief.
Northern Colorado (0-7) scored a run on three hits and a walk in the opening frame. Jarod Berggren delivered a two-out single, but the inning came to an abrupt end as Casey Coy was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play after TJ Berge had already crossed home.
The Wildcats were kept off the scoreboard through the first three innings after scoring in all eight half-innings on Saturday. Interestingly, on a day when runs were tough to come by, it was a two-out rally that allowed UA to tie the game.
Jett Bandy, who scored both runs on the day for the Wildcats, was hit by a pitch with two outs. Seth Mejias-Brean, who went 4-for-4 on the afternoon, singled to right field to advance Bandy to second base. Alex Mejia followed with a single to left field to score Bandy and even the game, 1-1.
In the sixth, Bandy opening the inning with a double off the left field wall. He moved to third on Mejias-Brean's bunt single, and then scored as Mejia delivered a sacrifice fly on a line drive to center field.
Hale settled down after first inning, striking out six Bears and giving up no hits in the next four innings. He left after five innings with the game tied, 1-1.
Matt Chaffee entered in the sixth inning and racked up three strikeouts on hitless relief over the next 1.2 innings.
With two outs in the seventh, Doyle came on from the bullpen and was dominant. The freshman right-hander retired all seven batters he faced, including two strike outs in the ninth to preserve his first career save.
The Wildcats will hit the road this week for a two-game series at Wichita State on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CDT) at Eck Stadium.
