CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Arizona Wildcats suffered their second-straight walk-off loss Saturday afternoon at Goss Stadium when Oregon State plated the winning run on a wild pitch in the ninth inning to beat Arizona 5-4 in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,190.
Arizona trailed 4-3 heading into the ninth inning and Oregon State brought in closer Max Engelbrekt to close out the game. But Coach
Jay Johnson brought in pinch-hitter
Cory Voss with one gone in the ninth and Voss hit his first career home run, hammering an Engelbrekt pitch over the fence in left field to tie the game at four.
The Cats got a runner on after the home run, but couldn't bring anymore home.
Cody Deason, who put up zeroes in the seventh and eighth in dominant fashion to keep the Cats within one, came back out for the ninth. Oregon State's leadoff man reached on an error and then pinch-runner Preston Jones stole second to get into scoring position.
Deason got Adley Rutschman swinging, but on a wild pitch, which allowed Jones to score all the way from second to plate the winning run. The loss dropped Arizona to 16-6 on the season and 2-3 in Pac-12 play.
Despite the loss, Arizona got two solid pitching performances from starter
Randy Labaut and Deason. Labaut, making his first career start at Arizona, went five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, while striking out three. Labaut exited in the sixth, with just one run in and two on. But both runners came around to score in that inning and were charged to Labaut.
Arizona led 3-1 entering the fifth. Oregon State took an early 1-0 lead after three, but the Cats erased it with two in the fourth. With a runner on third and one out,
JJ Matijevic lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score
Jared Oliva and tie the game at one apiece.
The next batter, Nick Quintana homered to left off Oregon State starter Bryce Fehmel to give Arizona a 2-1 lead. It was Quintana's third home run of the season and marked the third straight weekend the freshman sensation has hit a home run.
Arizona added to its lead an inning later.
Cesar Salazar singled to lead off the fifth and
Mitchell Morimoto followed with a one-out double to put two on with one out for Alfonso Rivas. Rivas hit a sacrifice fly to plate Salazar and make it 3-1.
But the Beavers took the lead in the sixth with a three-run inning. Deason kept the second-ranked Beavers at bay with two strong innings, setting up the Voss game-tying home run.
Arizona will look to salvage a game in the series Sunday at 11 a.m. The Cats have yet to announce a starter. Oregon State will start right-hander Jake Thompson.
