TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats erased a deficit for the fourth straight game and topped McNeese State 12-5 Sunday afternoon to complete a four-game sweep of the Cowboys at Hi Corbett Field. The game was called after the top of the eighth because of a Sunday travel curfew.
Like the first three contests of the series, McNeese State jumped out to an early lead, pulling ahead 4-0 after two innings. But like they've now done in six of their eight games this season, the Wildcats erased a deficit to earn a win.
On Sunday, the Cowboys scored three runs in the first and another in the second to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Arizona got a run back in the bottom of the second when
Mitchell Morimoto singled home
Cameron Cannon, who started a two-out rally by getting hit by a pitch.
Reliever
Juan Aguilera then tossed a scoreless third to get the Cats back at the dish. They responded in a bit way.
JJ Matijevic opened the inning with a single and moved up a base when
Cesar Salazar singled with one out.
Jared Oliva then cleared the bases with a three-run home run to left field to tie the game at four. The Cats took the lead later that inning when designated hitter Alfonso Rivas, who also started the game on the mound, walked with the bases loaded to score Cannon.
The Cowboys tied the game back up with a run in the fifth when Nate Fisbeck produced a two-out triple to score Shane Selman and knot the game at five.
That remained the score until the seventh inning when the Cats exploded for seven runs and broke the game open. The bottom half of the inning lasted 31 minutes and featured three McNeese State pitchers, two of which also played the field in the same inning. But it didn't matter who the pitcher was, Arizona went to work.
Oliva started the inning with a double and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Cannon.
Kyle Lewis then followed with another sacrifice, which scored Cannon to give the Cats a 6-5 lead. But Arizona was still just getting started.
Cal Stevenson doubled with one out and scored a batter later when Morimoto singled him home.
Rivas followed with a walk and Matijevic singled home Morimoto to increase the lead to three. After a Nick Quintana walk,
Cesar Salazar singled home Rivas and Matijevic and Oliva then hit his second double of the inning to plate Quintana and Salazar and cap the scoring at seven runs, giving the Cats a 12-5 lead.
Cameron Ming, who entered with two outs in the sixth, finished out the game after loading the bases with no outs. He got a strike out and a double play to end the inning. The game was then called due to McNeese State's travel curfew, which stated no new inning could start after 3:45 p.m.
The Cats had 12 hits and now have scored 90 runs during their 8-0 start. The Cats have 40 extra-base hits and opponents have an 11.23 ERA facing Arizona this season. Sunday, Oliva led the way, going 3 for 5 with five RBI and two runs scored. The junior is hitting .457 on the season with a team-high 10 extra-base hits. Matijevic, Morimoto and Salazar all had two hits Sunday and are all batting better than .423 this season.
Quintana went 1 for 4 with a walk and a run and now has at least one hit in each of Arizona's first eight games and is hitting .500 overall. Ming tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his second win of the season.
The Cats will now host Korean professional team NC Dinos in an exhibition matchup Tuesday at Hi Corbett. First pitch is at 3 p.m. The game is open to the public with $5 tickets available.
