The Arizona baseball team is off to a good start as they entered their third and final game of the State Farm College Baseball Showdown. They played against their first ranked opponent of the season, Texas Tech, on Sunday, Feb. 20, in Arlington, TX. The team would have no trouble beating Texas Tech by a score of 13-2.
Extra base hits
The Arizona baseball team had 16 hits on Sunday against Texas Tech and half of the 16 hits were for extra bases. Junior duo Tanner O’Tremba and Nik McClaughry both had two doubles. McClaughry had two RBI’s and O’Tremba had three to make up for more than a third of the Wildcats 13 runs. Sophomore outfielder Chase Davis also had three RBI’s. Two of his runs batted in were from his home run in the top of the fifth inning off of Texas Tech’s Andrew Devine.
RELATED: Arizona baseball team sweeps the State Farm College Baseball Showdown
Dominant pitching performances
Sophomore righty Dawson Netz got the win Sunday after throwing five shutout innings. Netz struck out six batters and only walked one. Most importantly he only gave up three hits that Texas Tech never capitalized on. Right-handed relievers Trevor Long and Jonathan Guardado also had strong outings. Long pitched two shutout innings until Guardado came in to close it out with another scoreless inning.
Strikeouts
Texas Tech struck out 12 times, but so did the Wildcats. This could be something to keep an eye on in the future as four Wildcats batters struck out multiple times. Tyler Casagrande, Mac Bingham and Daniel Susac all struck out twice. Blake Paugh struck out three times. The Wildcats abundance of offense easily made up for the many strikeouts but that may not always be the case.
No errors
For the second day in a row, the Wildcats committed no errors. With just one error this season the team is looking better than usual on defense as they continue to improve in the field.
Next up
The Wildcats start the year 3-0 after they swept the State Farm College Baseball Showdown with ease. The team will take on Grand Canyon University at home on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022.
Follow Cole Johnson on Twitter
