May 16, 2011
Arizona 6, Washington State 4 (Box Score)
PULLMAN, Wash. - The Arizona baseball team mounted a furious five-run rally in the top of the seventh inning to overcome a 4-0 deficit en route to a 6-4 series-clinching victory over Washington State on Monday evening at Bailey-Brayton Field.
Through six innings, the Wildcats' bats had mustered just four hits and stranded five base runners. But in the seventh inning, the bats came alive and pounded out five hits to score five runs and erase a four-run deficit to take a 5-4 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, reliever Bryce Bandilla struck out the side to keep the momentum on the Wildcats' side. An inning later, Bandilla worked another scoreless inning to send the game into the ninth.
Arizona (32-17, 11-10) plated a key insurance run in the top of the ninth inning. With one out, Bryce Ortega doubled before Cole Frenzel was intentionally walked. Both players advanced a base on a double steal to set up a sacrifice fly by Johnny Field to give the Wildcats a two-run cushion.
In the final frame, Bandilla allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Paul Clingan. A balk advanced Clingan to second base, but Bandilla was able to induce a foul-out to record the first out.
Matt Chaffee then entered with a save opportunity. The lefty recorded a fly out before issuing a walk to Matt Argyropoulos. Chaffee responded by striking out Adam Nelubowich to end the game and preserve the 6-4 victory to capture a third-straight series win for the Wildcats and their eighth win in the last nine games.
Bandilla and Chaffee combined to pitch 4.0 scoreless innings of relief out of the bullpen. Bandilla (4-1) picked up the win and tallied four strikeouts over 3.1 innings. Chaffee earned his sixth save of the year with a strikeout in 0.2 innings.
Washington State (21-24, 6-15 Pac-10) seemed to be cruising through the first six innings. Starter James Wise (4-6) had scattered four hits and allowed no runs through the first six innings, until he hit Jett Bandy with a pitch to lead off the seventh.
With Bandy on first and one out, Alex Mejia doubled to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Pinch-hitter Josh Garcia followed with a single to the left side that scored Bandy for the Wildcats' first run and pushed Mejia to third base.
The rally continued to build as Joey Rickard drove in Mejia with an infield single, and Ortega singled home Garcia to put the Wildcats within a run. Rickard and Ortega advanced to third and second, respectively, on a double steal, to set up an RBI ground out by Frenzel that tied the game.
With reliever Richie Ochoa in the game, Field laced a two-out triple down the right field line to score Ortega with the go-ahead run and cap a furious five-run rally.
The Wildcats found themselves trailing early after Washington State scored the first four runs of the game off starter Konner Wade, who pitched 5.0 innings. Wade gave up four runs on five hits, but he did not walk a batter and struck out two.
In the second inning, Patrick Clausen doubled to right center off Wade to get in scoring position with one out. Brett Jacobs followed with an infield to Mejia, the shortstop, who errantly threw to first. The ball skipped past Frenzel at first base and allowed Clausen to score from second base to spot WSU a 10 lead.
The Cougars extended their lead in the home half of the fourth inning. Derek Jones singled to lead off the frame, before Taylor Ard homered to left centerfield to push the lead to 3-0.
A leadoff double led to another Cougar run in the fifth inning. Argyropoulos doubled to center field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Cody Bartlett drove in Argyropoulos with a sacrifice fly to left to field that extend the lead to 4-0.
Arizona will wrap up a six-game road swing with a three-game series at Stanford this coming weekend (May 20-22). The series begins on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.
