April 22, 2011
Arizona 2, Oregon 1 (Box Score)
EUGENE, Ore. - Kyle Simon pitched a masterful complete-game three-hitter, and Johnny Field delivered a solo home run to lead off the seventh inning as No. 23 Arizona evened up its three-game series against host Oregon with a 2-1 victory on Friday night at PK Park.
With the game knotted 1-1 after six innings of play, Field stepped to plate against Oregon's Madison Boer in the top of the seventh. The freshman outfielder, who earlier doubled and scored the Wildcats' first run, blasted a solo shot over the left field fence - his third home run of the year - to give Arizona its first lead of the game at 2-1.
The lead proved to be enough for Simon, a junior right-hander. Simon surrendered two hits and a run scored in the first inning, but was brilliant thereafter as he allowed three total hits in the game, racked up five strikeouts and did not issue a walk in his second complete game of the year.
Simon retired the final 10 batters he faced in the game, including a dazzling eighth inning in which he struck out the side. An inning earlier, Danny Pulfer's two-out bunt single snapped a stretch of 12 consecutive batters retired by Simon dating back to the second inning.
Oregon (20-17, 3-8 Pac-10) did all of its offensive damage in the home half of the first inning. Pulfer and Brett Thomas singled to put runners at the corners with no outs, and Stefan Sabol drove in the game's first run with an RBI groundout to stake the Ducks to a 1-0 lead.
Arizona (24-14, 6-8 Pac-10) was quiet offensively most of the game until Field laced a double to left centerfield to lead off the fifth inning. Field had to hold at second as Josh Garcia reach on a single fielded by shortstop KC Serna deep in the hole on the left side of the infield. Both runners moved up on Brandon Dixon's sacrifice bunt, which allowed Alex Mejia to drive in Field from third base with an RBI groundout.
Both the Wildcats and Ducks stranded a runner on base in the sixth inning, before Field stepped to the plate and broke open the 1-1 tie with his eventual game-winning home run in the top of the seventh.
Simon improved to 7-3 on the season and lowered his season ERA to 2.95. He threw just 94 pitches in the game that lasted one hour and 52 minutes. Due in part to a pair of double plays, Simon faced 29 batters in the game, just two over the minimum of 27 in a nine inning contest.
Boer suffered the loss as his record dropped to 2-3 on the year. Like Simon, Boer pitched a complete game and scattered six hits, issued two walks and struck out five.
The final game of the series is set for noon (PDT) on Saturday. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest.
