Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz.- The Arizona baseball team won its season-high fourth straight game with a 9-6 victory over Texas A&M at Frank Sancet Field Friday afternoon. The Cats rapped out 13 hits for the game, eight of the nine UA starters scored at least one run and freshman Marc Kaiser (3-1) went 5.2 innings to earn his second consecutive victory and third of the season. The win improved Arizona's record to 9-7 for the season while the loss dropped the Aggies to 3-2.
The Aggies posted two early runs off Kasier in the first on Ben Himes' RBI ground ball error and a one-out RBI single by Steve Ponder. Kaiser would regain his composure and strand A&M runners on first and second to end the inning.
Senior Ernie Durazo would cut the Aggie lead to one in the home half of the first with a towering, two out solo home run to right field. Durazo would finish the game 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored while extending his career high hitting streak to 19 games.
The Cats and Aggies exchanged two run innings in the bottom of the second and top of the third. An A&M error in the second, one of six committed by Texas A&M on the afternoon, allowed Kenny Huff to score and Brad Hassey would follow with an RBI single to left to drive in Brian Anderson to give the Cats the lead at 3-2. The Aggies would charge back in the top of the third on a two-out, two RBI single by Ponder to bring the score to 4-3 in favor of A&M.
Arizona would then go on the offensive, scoring four runs in the fourth through sixth innings, while Kaiser would continue to cruise through the Aggie lineup, not allowing a runner to advance past first in fourth and fifth innings. The right-hander would then find himself and the Arizona lead in trouble when he hit A&M's Chris Russ and issued back-to-back walks to Eric Reed and Erik Schindewolf to load the bases with two out in the sixth. The Arizona coaching staff called on Joe Little from the bullpen to put out the fire and he came up big. The freshman reliever induced Ben Himes to ground out to Matt Abram to end the inning and the Aggie threat. Little, who would strike out three in three innings pitched, at one point would retire six straight Aggies.
The Cats would add two insurance runs in the seventh on three A&M errors to bring the score to 9-4. The Aggies would rally for single runs in the eighth and ninth innings before closer Daryl DeSalvo ended the contest by retiring pinch hitter Greg Porter on a ground out to second. DeSalvo's ninth inning work earned him his team-leading third save of the season.
Offensively for Arizona Erik Torres went 3-for-5 with two RBI while Shelley Duncan and Kenny Huff paired hits and each scored a run.
The two teams will meet for game two of the three game set tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Sancet Field.
