Tucson, Ariz. – Bobby Dalbec delivered a walk-off double with two outs in the ninth inning Saturday afternoon at Hi Corbett Field to lift the Arizona Wildcats to a thrilling 6-5 win over No. 23 UCLA.
The Wildcats entered the ninth inning trailing 5-1, but scored five runs in the bottom of the frame to complete the comeback and win the series from the Bruins.
After Zach Gibbons lined out to start the inning, Justin Behnke and Casey Bowman were both hit by pitches to put two on with one out. Cody Ramer then singled to score Behnke and make it 5-2. Ryan Aguilar then doubled to score pinch-runner Louis Boyd to cut it to a two-run game.
That brought freshman Alfonso Rivas to the plate, who was batting in the No. 3 hole for the first time this season. Rivas singled through the right side on a 2-1 count to score Aguilar and Ramer and tie the game at five, much to the delight of the 3,180 fans at Hi Corbett.
J.J. Matijevic then flew out to right to set the stage for Dalbec. The junior worked the count to 2-2 before roping a double down the left field line on a fast ball. Rivas hustled around from first and slid head first into home plate to score the winning run and give the victory to the Cats.
The walk-off win lifted Arizona to 16-7 on the season and 3-3 in Pac-12 play. UCLA dropped to 12-9 and 4-2.
“We just told Bobby not to try to do too much there,” coach Jay Johnson said. “He was able to come through and have a plan. I've been around a lot of good wins in my career, and this one is one of the very best.”
The win Saturday was extra special for the Wildcats, who honored Josh Weaver pregame. Weaver was a 17-year-old Wildcats fan who passed away from cancer before the season. The Cats have been honoring him all season, but had a special tribute for him Saturday where his father threw out the first pitch and a pregame video produced by junior Sawyer Gieseke was shown on the videoboard.
Weaver's family was in attendance for the game and visited with Johnson and the team after the emotional victory.
“Before the game, the video, that was all done by our players and the idea was all done by our players and director of player development Jimmy Van Ostrand,” Johnson said. “Before we got into the day and the gameplan and all that, I just said 'hey, stuff like that makes me really proud to be associated with this particular group of guys. There's no question that it was a huge inspiration for us. His family is so special. The way his mom and dad have been an example for our players has been pretty neat and special.”
Right-hander Kevin Ginkel tossed two scoreless innings in relief to earn his first win as a Wildcat. Sophomore left-hander Cameron Ming started and went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out four in an effective outing.
Rivas, Ramer, Matijevic and Gibbons all had two-hit games in the win. Rivas, a true freshman, is 11-26 in his first six Pac-12 Conference games.
The Bruins built a 5-1 lead through six innings, breaking a scoreless tie in the fifth with two runs. UCLA then plated three more in the sixth to grab a 5-0 lead. Arizona got on the board in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI groundout from Cesar Salazar.
That remained the score until Arizona's dramatic ninth-inning comeback and Dalbec's game-winner.
The win lifted Arizona to an 11-2 mark at Hi Corbett this season. The Cats will return to their home field Tuesday to open a two-game midweek series against UC-Riverside. Arizona will then travel to Utah for three games against the Utes next weekend.
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