March 21, 2011
Arizona 8, San Francisco 5 (Box Score)
TUCSON, Ariz. - With an 8-5 victory over visiting San Francisco at Kindall Field/Sancet Stadium on Monday afternoon, the No. 15 Arizona baseball team improved its record to 16-5 on the season in the final non-conference tune up before Pac-10 action begins in earnest next weekend at No. 6 Arizona State.
The Wildcats, who pitched shutouts in the first two games of the series over the weekend, surrendered a run to the Dons in the top of the first inning. But Arizona answered quickly in the bottom of the first as Steve Selsky blasted a two-run home run to left field to give the Wildcats a lead they would not surrender.
Tyler Hale, despite giving up the first inning run, tossed 5.2 innings to improve his record 3-0 on the mound. He scattered seven hits and walked four in the game, but was effective with 10 ground ball outs, including two double plays. The first double play ended the first inning as the Dons had the bases loaded with one out and one run already on the board.
San Francisco (9-11) chipped away at a seven-run deficit with a pair of runs in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. A two-run home run by Travis Higgs ended four straight scoreless innings pitched by Hale.
Even so, by the time Hale turned the game over to the bullpen, Arizona had an 8-3 lead in the sixth inning thanks to another onslaught of base hits. The Wildcats' 15 hits on Monday pushed the series total to 47 over three games.
Konner Wade, who recorded the final out in the sixth inning, gave up two runs in the seventh as the Wildcat lead was cut to 8-5. But the bullpen settled down from there.
Bryce Bandilla combined for 2.0 innings of relief and had no runs charged against him, despite giving up two hits and a walk. Matt Chaffee closed the game with a perfect inning of relief and two strike outs in the ninth to earn his first save.
Arizona's offense was paced by the top and bottom of the order. Leadoff hitter Joey Rickard collected a pair of hits and scored two runs, while Cole Frenzel reached base for the 21st-consectuive game with three hits and two RBI on the afternoon.
At the bottom of the order, Alex Mejia registered three hits and two runs scored out of the No. 8 spot, while Bryce Ortega went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Arizona will take a break from mid-week games this week as it prepares for the start of Pac-10 Conference action. The Wildcats will travel to Tempe, Ariz., March 25-27 to take on intrastate rival Arizona State.
