From Arizona Athletics
The Arizona Wildcats earned a series win over in-state foe Arizona State in dramatic fashion Saturday night, outlasting the Sun Devils 10-9 in 11 innings in front of 6,165 fans at Hi Corbett Field.
With runners on first and second and one out in the 11th, freshman Donta Williams came up to face Arizona State’s Boyd Vander Kooi. Williams singled through the right side, moving Nick Quintana up a base to third. But right fielder Trevor Hauver overran the ball in right, and coach Jay Johnson sent Quintana home to score the winning run, giving the Wildcats the thrilling one-run win.
The victory improved Arizona to 32-21 on the season and 12-15 in Pac-12 play. Arizona State dropped to 22-30 and 12-15 in league play. The Cats won the weekend series and secured the Territorial Cup Series victory for Arizona Athletics.
The Cats have now won six of the last seven matchups with the Sun Devils and finished the season 23-6 at Hi Corbett.
It was appropriate Quintana scored the winning run for the Wildcats after the performance he had in the series finale against the Sun Devils. The sophomore third baseman was 4 for 4 in the win with two home runs, three RBI and four runs scored.
Trailing 2-0 in the first inning, Quintana hit his first home run of the game with two outs and Cal Stevenson on first base. The two-run blast knotted the game at two early on.
But Arizona State scored one run in the second and then four more in the fourth to take a 7-2 lead. Spencer Torkelson hit a three-run home run in the inning for the Sun Devils, which marked his 25th of the season.
The Wildcats had an immediate answer with the help of Quintana. The Las Vegas native led off the inning with a solo home run to get the score to 7-3. After a groundout, Jacob Blas and Seve Romo put together back-to-back singles to put two men on. Matt Fraizer was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ryan Haug.
The senior delivered on senior day, lining a double down the left field line to clear the bases and bring the Wildcats within one at 7-6.
Two innings later in the sixth, Arizona tied the game when Fraizer came through with a one-out RBI single to score Blas and make it 6-6.
However, the Sun Devils grabbed the lead back in the back-and-forth affair in the seventh. Gil Luna, who had tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings, came back for the seventh. He retired the first two batters, and stayed on to face Hunter Bishop with two outs and one on. Bishop homered earlier in the game and then took Luna deep for a two-run home run to give Arizona State a 9-7 lead for his second long ball of the game.
The Wildcats had a response in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and nobody on, Alfonso Rivas doubled and Quintana followed with a walk to put two men on for Cesar Salazar. Salazar lifted a ball to deep left-centerfield that Bishop dropped, allowing Rivas and Quintana to score to tie the game at nine.
Zach Stone, who entered for Luna after the home run and go the final out of the seventh, stayed on for the Wildcats and rolled through the Arizona State lineup. He struck out Lyle Lin with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, and then worked a perfect ninth. Arizona got two men with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but a ground out ended the inning and sent the game to extra innings.
Stone again worked a perfect inning in the 10th, getting a strikeout, a ground out and a flyout from Torkelson to end the inning. Arizona got a double from Cameron Cannon in the bottom of the inning, but a strike out ended the inning and sent it to the 11th.
Stone stayed on and struck out Gage Canning to open the inning. Carter Aldrete walked and Lyle Lin singled to put two men on. After a ground out, Stone intentionally walked Bishop to face shortstop Alika Williams. He got Williams swinging to keep the Sun Devils off the scoreboard and set up the victory in the bottom half.
All total, Stone tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He walked five – two intentionally—and struck out five to earn the win and improve to 3-1 on the season. Vander Kooi took the loss for the Sun Devils.
Haug finished 2 for 5 for the Wildcats with three RBI in his final game at Hi Corbett. Blas was 2 for 5 with two runs scored and Romo was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
The Wildcats will now head to Oregon for their final series of the regular season beginning Thursday night.
The Arizona Wildcats earned a series win over in-state foe Arizona State in dramatic fashion Saturday night, outlasting the Sun Devils 10-9 in 11 innings in front of 6,165 fans at Hi Corbett Field.
With runners on first and second and one out in the 11th, freshman Donta Williams came up to face Arizona State’s Boyd Vander Kooi. Williams singled through the right side, moving Nick Quintana up a base to third. But right fielder Trevor Hauver overran the ball in right, and coach Jay Johnson sent Quintana home to score the winning run, giving the Wildcats the thrilling one-run win.
The victory improved Arizona to 32-21 on the season and 12-15 in Pac-12 play. Arizona State dropped to 22-30 and 12-15 in league play. The Cats won the weekend series and secured the Territorial Cup Series victory for Arizona Athletics.
The Cats have now won six of the last seven matchups with the Sun Devils and finished the season 23-6 at Hi Corbett.
It was appropriate Quintana scored the winning run for the Wildcats after the performance he had in the series finale against the Sun Devils. The sophomore third baseman was 4 for 4 in the win with two home runs, three RBI and four runs scored.
Trailing 2-0 in the first inning, Quintana hit his first home run of the game with two outs and Cal Stevenson on first base. The two-run blast knotted the game at two early on.
But Arizona State scored one run in the second and then four more in the fourth to take a 7-2 lead. Spencer Torkelson hit a three-run home run in the inning for the Sun Devils, which marked his 25th of the season.
The Wildcats had an immediate answer with the help of Quintana. The Las Vegas native led off the inning with a solo home run to get the score to 7-3. After a groundout, Jacob Blas and Seve Romo put together back-to-back singles to put two men on. Matt Fraizer was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ryan Haug.
The senior delivered on senior day, lining a double down the left field line to clear the bases and bring the Wildcats within one at 7-6.
Two innings later in the sixth, Arizona tied the game when Fraizer came through with a one-out RBI single to score Blas and make it 6-6.
However, the Sun Devils grabbed the lead back in the back-and-forth affair in the seventh. Gil Luna, who had tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings, came back for the seventh. He retired the first two batters, and stayed on to face Hunter Bishop with two outs and one on. Bishop homered earlier in the game and then took Luna deep for a two-run home run to give Arizona State a 9-7 lead for his second long ball of the game.
The Wildcats had a response in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and nobody on, Alfonso Rivas doubled and Quintana followed with a walk to put two men on for Cesar Salazar. Salazar lifted a ball to deep left-centerfield that Bishop dropped, allowing Rivas and Quintana to score to tie the game at nine.
Zach Stone, who entered for Luna after the home run and go the final out of the seventh, stayed on for the Wildcats and rolled through the Arizona State lineup. He struck out Lyle Lin with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, and then worked a perfect ninth. Arizona got two men with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but a ground out ended the inning and sent the game to extra innings.
Stone again worked a perfect inning in the 10th, getting a strikeout, a ground out and a flyout from Torkelson to end the inning. Arizona got a double from Cameron Cannon in the bottom of the inning, but a strike out ended the inning and sent it to the 11th.
Stone stayed on and struck out Gage Canning to open the inning. Carter Aldrete walked and Lyle Lin singled to put two men on. After a ground out, Stone intentionally walked Bishop to face shortstop Alika Williams. He got Williams swinging to keep the Sun Devils off the scoreboard and set up the victory in the bottom half.
All total, Stone tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He walked five – two intentionally—and struck out five to earn the win and improve to 3-1 on the season. Vander Kooi took the loss for the Sun Devils.
Haug finished 2 for 5 for the Wildcats with three RBI in his final game at Hi Corbett. Blas was 2 for 5 with two runs scored and Romo was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
The Wildcats will now head to Oregon for their final series of the regular season beginning Thursday night.
