SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Arizona Wildcats (24-10, 11-5) rode
Chase Davis' second grand slam of the year and excellent bullpen performances to a 7-6 victory in their series opener against the Utah Utes (18-14, 5-8) on Thursday morning.
After racing out to a 2-0 lead, the Wildcats found themselves in a 5-2 hole entering the fifth inning. A Utah error, a single from
Tanner O'Tremba, and a hit batter loaded the bases for Davis, who promptly cleared them with a no-doubt home run onto the grass berm in right-center field.
The Cats picked up an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double from
Daniel Susac and held on over the final three-plus frames for their sixth straight Pac-12 road victory.
Arizona starting pitcher
TJ Nichols improved to 5-2 on the year after working 6.1 innings. The right-hander allowed six runs on 12 hits and improved as the game went on, at one point retiring six straight Utes across the fifth and sixth innings.
A pair of righties,
Quinn Flanagan and
Trevor Long, combined to hold Utah scoreless on just one hit over the remainder. Long earned his third save of the year and improved his already-sparkling ERA to 0.87.
Arizona WildBATS
Bullpen Bullies
Number of the Day
- Davis' grand slam in the fifth inning was his 11th home run of the season, which places him in a tie for first in the Pac-12.
Tweets of the Day
Up Next
The Wildcats and Utes square off in game two on Friday morning with first pitch again scheduled for 10:00 a.m. MST.
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