Tucson, Ariz. – Stanford scored three runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to salvage a game against Arizona and top the Wildcats 6-5 in the final matchup of a three-game set.
Arizona won the series by taking the first two games of the weekend and have won all three conference series' at Hi Corbett Field this season.
On Sunday, Arizona built an early lead and looked like it might be headed toward a sweep. The Wildcats plated a run in the first after starter Bobby Dalbec threw up a zero in the top half of the inning. Zach Gibbons and Dalbec coaxed back-to-back walks with one out and Ryan Aguilar singled to the pitcher to load the bases. Gibbons then scored on a passed ball to give Arizona a 1-0 lead.
Again, Dalbec put up a zero in the second inning and the Cats went back to work in the bottom half. Kyle Lewis walked to lead off the inning and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt from Louis Boyd. After Justin Behnke grounded out, Cody Ramer came through with a two-out double to left-centerfield to score Lewis. Ramer then moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch from Stanford starter Chris Viall. His run gave Arizona a 3-0 lead.
Stanford cut into that lead in the fourth, scoring its first run off Dalbec. Austin Barr had a one-out double to score Alex Dunlap for the Cardinal's first run of the game to make it 3-1. That remained the score until the sixth when Arizona added another run. This time, Aguilar led off the inning with a walk, before stealing second. After a strikeout and a fielder's choice that moved Aguilar to third, Lewis laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Aguilar.
Dalbec put together a 1-2-3 seventh to keep it at 4-1. Arizona made it 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh. Behnke reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved to a second on a one-out single from Gibbons. After Dalbec flied out, Aguilar singled to left to score Behnke and make it 5-1.
But the Cardinal responded, scoring three runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth to complete the comeback and earn the win. In the eighth, two of Stanford's three runs were unearned after a passed ball and an error by the Wildcats.
In the ninth, Kevin Ginkel got an the first out of the inning after Nico Hoerner singled to lead things off. Coach Jay Johnson then went to left-hander Cody Moffett, who struck out Mikey Diekroeger on three pitched. But the next batter, Quinn Brodey, hit a deep fly ball to deep right-centerfield that got in between Jared Oliva and Gibbons and bounced off the wall for an inside-the-park home run to score two runs and give Stanford a 6-5 lead.
Gibbons singled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Dalbec popped up to deep short to end the game.
Gibbons and Aguilar each finished with two-hit games. Gibbons went 2 for 3 with two walks and Aguilar finished 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI. Dalbec went 7 2/3 innings on the mound for the third straight start and gave up just two earned runs over eight hits. Stanford reliever Colton Hock, who tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings, earned the win for the Cardinal.
The Wildcats will play next on Wednesday at home versus New Mexico State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and will be live streamed through Pac-12.com.
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