PHOENIX, Ariz. – A pair of solo home runs and a strong start from Randy Labaut were not enough for the Arizona Wildcats (13-12, 2-5) as they dropped their series opener to the No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils (23-1, 6-1) on a final score of 8-2 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Friday night.
 
Left fielder Austin Wells (1x3, R, HR, RBI, BB) and first baseman Dayton Dooney (1x4, R, HR, RBI), a pair of freshmen, both connected for solo home runs. For both Wells and Dooney it was the second home run of their college career. Wells' cleared the wall in right center field in the top of the sixth inning to get the Wildcats on the board, while Dooney blasted his out to right field in the top of the seventh to cut the Sun Devils lead to just two runs at 4-2.
 
The Cats offense also saw base extra-base knocks from catcher Matthew Dyer (1x4, 3B) and right fielder Tate Soderstrom (1x2, 2B) while Donta Williams, Cameron Cannon, Ryan Holgate, Justin Wylie, and Kobe Kato all drew walks.
 
Labaut (2-3) put together a strong start on the mound for the Wildcats, but ultimately took the loss. Working with great pace and attacking the strike zone, Labaut limited the Sun Devils prolific offense to just seven hits over 6.2 innings of work while striking out five batters.
 
Coming in from the bullpen, freshmen George Arias Jr. (0.2 IP) and Randy Abshier (0.2 IP) both worked scoreless relief outings while allowing just one hit between the two of them.
 
Arizona will look to even the series on Saturday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. MST and the game will once again be televised on Pac-12 Network.