On Sunday, No. 6 Arizona baseball lost to No. 2 Oregon State 11-7, capping off a three-game sweep on the road.
In a series featuring Pac-12 powers, the Wildcats battled hard in all three games but were unable to claim even one from the Beavers. Two of Arizona’s three losses were in the final inning during the sweep, and now Arizona drops to 16-7 on the season after starting 10-0.
The Wildcats lost the series opener in a game that came down to the last inning. Tied at three runs a piece, Beavers infielder K.J. Harrison singled down the middle, allowing catcher Adley Rutchsman to score the game-winner.
J.J. Matijevic led the offense with three hits but did not register any RBIs for the Wildcats. Arizona stranded 11 runners on base and batted .091 with runners in scoring position. With runners on base, Arizona batted .167 and failed to consistently move runners over and bat runners in.
Saturday’s loss was a heart-breaker as Oregon State defeated the Wildcats 5-4 on a wild pitch. Arizona had tied the game in the top of ninth due to a solo home run by Corey Voss. In the bottom of the ninth, a wild pitch by Cody Deason allowed Beavers outfielder Preston Jones to score the game-winning run.
Arizona’s offense only manufactured four hits on Friday and hit .138 as a team. No Wildcat batter registered over one hit while Arizona struck out six times.
Randy Labaut got the start in the series opener, allowing seven hits and three earned runs in five innings. Deason earned the loss for Arizona and fell to 1-1 on the season.
On Sunday, Oregon State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, forcing Arizona to play catch up the rest of the game. Oregon State would extend the lead to 5-0 before Arizona scored three runs in the fifth inning.
Oregon State would add six runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to extend their lead to 11-3. Arizona would add four runs in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 11-7 but could not score any more runs.
Alfonso Rivas led the Wildcats on Sunday with three hits, four RBIs, and a walk.
Rio Gomez started for Arizona on Sunday and the loss dropped his record to 2-3 on the season. Gomez pitched 3.2 innings and give up six hits and three earned runs.
In a battle of Pac-12 heavyweights, Oregon State bested the Wildcats all weekend thanks to their steadfast pitching.
Arizona came into Sunday as the only Pac-12 batting over .300, sitting at .338 throughout the year. Oregon State leads the Pac-12 in ERA at 1.25, a whole point lower than the next team.
In the series, Arizona batted .197 as a team, much lower than the Wildcats’ average, and could not figure out the Beavers.
While there are no moral victories in sports, Arizona was only a few bounces away from winning this series. No team ever wants to be swept, but there is still a lot of baseball left to be played this season.
Wildcat baseball returns to Hi Corbett Field on Wednesday, when Arizona takes on Grand Canyon University at 6 p.m. MST.
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