University of Arizona Athletics

TUCSON, Ariz.- The Arizona baseball team bounced back from a disappointing loss on Wednesday night to defeat Southern Utah 13-5 at Sancet Field Friday night. The Wildcats rapped out 17 hits in the game, five of which came off the bat of senior Ernie Durazo. The first baseman finished the game 5-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored. The win improves the Wildcats' record to 17-12 on the season and drops the Thunderbirds to 1-16.

Down 5-2 in the sixth the Wildcats rallied for seven runs to take the lead 9-5. Sending 11 hitters to the plate the Cats collected the seven runs off of five hits and a dropped pop fly to second. Durazo picked up two of his five hits in the inning with a pair of singles. The Wildcats would tack on four more runs in the eighth on five hits.

Marc Kaiser picked up his team-leading fifth win of the season with six innings of work. He struck out six and walked three. Tony Sulser worked the final three innings for his first career save. Steven Stoker took the loss for the T-Birds surrendering four unearned runs in sixth.

Offensively, Matt Abram, Kenny Huff and Erik Torres all had three hits apiece on the night. Torres and Abram each paired runs and Huff drove in two while scoring once. In all, seven of the starting nine for the Wildcats scored at least one run and had at least one hit in the game.

The two schools will meet Saturday for the second game of the three game set. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. KNST will broadcast the game live.