The Arizona baseball team took on Stanford University in the first game of the three-game series at Hi Corbett field on March 19. Here are the key moments from the game.

TJ Nichols’ pitching

TJ Nichols got the win in Saturday’s game with a very strong outing. Nichols pitched 8 innings, only giving up 2 runs. Nichols struck out eight Cardinal batters and allowed eight hits through eight innings. Despite earned runs in the fourth and sixth innings, Nichols was in command at all times.

Strikeouts at the plate 

The Wildcats baseball team has struggled with strikeouts at the plate this season. Tonight was no different. The Arizona baseball team struck out 10 times during Saturday’s game against Stanford. Outfielder Chase Davis struck out three times for the hat trick as his struggles from freshman year continue.

Solid Defense

The Arizona baseball team continues to show improvement on defense. Another game with zero errors for the Wildcats. This could be thanks to head coach Chip Hale. Hale is known as one of the best Arizona baseball defensemen in program history. He was also known as a reliable defender in the majors, mainly with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Wild throw scores the first Wildcat run

Outfielder Tyler Casagrande singled late in the seventh inning which led to a throwing error by Stanford which scored outfielder Mac Bingham to make the game 2-1. Stanford gave the Wildcats momentum with two outs.

Wildcats rally late

Garen Caulfield doubled early in the bottom of the eighth inning which led to the first pitching change for the Cardinal. Following this, catcher Daniel Susac made it to first on an error. Following that, Tanner O’Tremba singled to right to score Caulfield to make the score 2-2 with men on first and second base with one out. With two outs, Tommy Splaine hit a slow roller to third base, which was thrown away to score Daniel Susac to take the lead 3-2.

In the top of the ninth inning, the Wildcats put men on second and third base with one out. Center fielder  Bingham caught a fly ball for the second out and would fire it home for third base to win the game in a dramatic fashion.

The Arizona baseball team will face Stanford again on Sunday, March 20, at Hi Corbett Field at 12 p.m.

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