EUGENE, Ore. — A record night at the plate fueled the Arizona Wildcats (41-18) romp over the Utah Valley Wolverines (33-28) on Saturday night at PK Park. The 14-4 victory secured Arizona a berth in Sunday's regional final.
The Wildcats clubbed eight home runs and 14 extra-base hits in the onslaught, both of which were single-game program records. Shortstop
Mason White collected three of the Wildcats eight dingers, making him the ninth player in program history with a three-home run performance and the first to do so in a postseason contest.
Brendan Summerhill,
Aaron Walton,
Adonys Guzman,
Garen Caulfield, and
Tommy Splaine all swatted homers of their own to bring the tally to eight. It was Caulfield's eighth-inning blast onto the roof of the home bullpen that broke the record.
Not to be lost in the offensive eruption, the Wildcats bullpen was lights out for six innings. Right-handers
Casey Hintz and
Michael Hilker Jr. combined to toss six near-perfect innings, with the lone blemish being a ninth inning double. The duo combined to issues no walks and strike out nine. Hintz picked up the win and improved to 7-4 on the year, while Hilker Jr. earned his first career save.
Arizona WildBATS
- SS Mason White: 4-for-5, 4 R, 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, BB
- 1B Tommy Splaine: 4-for-5, 2 R, HR, RBI
- CF Aaron Walton: 3-for-6, R, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI
- RF Brendan Summerhill: 2-for-6, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
- C Adonys Guzman: 2-for-6, R, HR, 2 RBI
- 2B Garen Caulfield: 2-for-6, R, 2B, HR, RBI
- LF Easton Breyfogle: 2-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI
Bullpen Bullies
- RHP Casey Hintz: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, Win (7-4)
- RHP Michael Hilker Jr.: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, Save (1)
Numbers of the Night
- Arizona's eight home runs were a single-game program record.
- The previous high-water mark was seven home runs on April 8, 2001 at Washington State.
- The Wildcats 14 extra-base hits were also a single-game program record.
- The previous record was 13 XBH on May 5, 2019 vs. Oregon.
- White has 19 home runs this year, matching his career-high from last season and putting him in a tie for eighth on the single-season leaderboard.
- White's seventh-inning double gives him 110 career extra-base hits, tied for the most in program history.
Photo of the Night
Social Media Coverage
Next Up
The Wildcats will play in the Eugene Regional final on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. MST. They will face the winner of tomorrow's first game between [3] Cal Poly and [4] Utah Valley.
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