Tucson, Ariz. – Cameron Ming earned his first career Saturday, tossing seven shutout innings to lift the Arizona Wildcats to a 4-1 win over Stanford at Hi Corbett Field.
The Wildcats will now go for their second consecutive sweep of the Cardinal in Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m. The Wildcats swept the Cardinal last season on the road.
Ming gave up just five hits over seven scoreless innings Saturday, allowing just two walks and striking out two. The left-hander cruised through the first two innings, before running into his first bit of trouble in the third inning. Stanford loaded the bases with one out after Nico Hoerner coaxed a walk. But Ming got Matt Winaker to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
The Wildcats' offense capitalized on that, plating their first run in the bottom of the third. Justin Behnke led off the inning with a triple and was brought home two batters later when Zach Gibbons produced an RBI groundout to second base.
Ming tossed two more scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth, despite allowing three men to reach in the fourth. Then Arizona's offense opened up the game in the bottom of the fifth, plating three runs.
Ramer led off the inning with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Gibbons. Ramer then swiped third and came home on an opposite-field RBI single from Bobby Dalbec. Ryan Aguilar followed with a single to right to move Dalbec to third. Jared Oliva then laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored Dalbec from third to make it 3-0 in favor of Arizona.
J.J. Matijevic capped the inning with an RBI single to center to score Aguilar and make it 4-0.
Ming gave up a single in the sixth, but nothing else to keep it at 4-0. The sophomore lefty then struck out Tommy Edman and got Hoerner to ground out to first to get through the seventh unscathed.
“I was mixing pitches and throwing the fastball knee high was probably the most important aspect of our game tonight,” Ming said after the game. “I had my slider working for a strike, my fastball command was pretty good. I was able to mix the pitches. Even when I was behind the count, I was able to get back in it and trust the guys behind me.”
Ming had made 30 appearances over his first two seasons with the Wildcats without receiving a decision. But after his gem Saturday, Ming is now 1-0 on the season with a 4.08 ERA. He's been a serious weapon for the Wildcats in Pac-12 play, posting a 1.93 ERA over seven appearances.
“It was fun tonight,” Ming said. “It's even more fun when it's done and you finally get your first career win. This is my fifth start this year, and my first win. So it's really relieving to get that under your belt.”
Freshman lefty Alfonso Rivas entered in relief of Ming and pitched the final two innings. He got some help from Ramer, who made a diving stop at second base to rob Mikey Diekroeger of a base hit. The Cardinal finally got to an Arizona pitcher in the ninth when Austin Barr doubled with two outs to score Jonny Locker for Stanford's only run of the game.
Combined, Arizona's two starting pitchers this weekend, Nathan Bannister and Ming, have given up just one run and 10 hits over 16 innings. Both have earned wins.
On Saturday, Aguilar and Matijevic each finished 3 for 4 in the win. Aguilar added a run scored and Matijevic had an RBI. Behnke also went 2 for 3 with a run scored. Ramer was 1 for 5 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Dalbec will start for the Wildcats tomorrow as they go for the sweep. Stanford will counter with Chris Viall.
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