Arizona’s two-headed ace continued to roll, but rocky Sunday starting pitching once again failed the Wildcat baseball team.
After back-to-back complete games from UA starters Preston Guilmet and Brad Mills to open the series, Stanford hit Wildcat starter Ryan Perry for four runs over just 2 1/3 innings, then got a four-inning, one-hit save from right-hander Erik Davis in snapping the No. 13 Wildcats’ 16-game winning streak with a 6-3 win yesterday.
The Cardinal (15-17, 1-8 Pacific 10 Conference) had yet to win in conference play.
“”In no way am I upset. It’d be nice to think that we were going to go undefeated the rest of the way, but … there’s a lot of teams in the nation that would like to be 8-1 in conference right now.””
– Andy Lopez,
UA head coach
Despite the loss, Arizona (30-7, 8-1) remains in a tie for the Pac-10 lead.
“”In no way am I upset,”” said UA head coach Andy Lopez. “”It’d be nice to think that we were going to go undefeated the rest of the way, but … there’s a lot of teams in the nation that would like to be 8-1 in conference (play) right now.””
Arizona had just one hit after the fourth inning – a single that led off the ninth. After two walks and a sacrifice bunt, Wildcat second baseman Colt Sedbrook had the bases loaded with one out, but grounded into a game-ending double play.
Davis was lights-out – at one point setting down nine straight Wildcats – in relief of Jeffrey Inman (3-2), who gave up three runs on five hits in five innings.
Perry (0-1) took the loss for the Wildcats.
Yesterday’s loss came after Arizona dominated the first two games of the series.
Guilmet struck out a career-high 15 batters and went nine innings for the fourth consecutive outing in Friday’s 8-1 win. The righty, who is now 7-0 on the year with a conference-best 83 strikeouts, lowered his ERA to a Pac-10-best 1.58.
“”The numbers speak for themselves,”” Lopez said of Guilmet, who gave up the lone run on just five hits.
Center fielder T.J. Steele was 3-for-5 in Friday’s game with a career-high four RBIs, including a solo shot in the second inning for his third home run of the year.
First baseman C.J. Ziegler also homered for Arizona, which hadn’t gone yard in seven games before Steele’s shot.
A day later, Mills (8-2) pitched the first complete game of his career to tie for the conference lead in wins as Arizona rolled 15-1.
Designated hitter Brad Glenn smacked his sixth homer of the year as part of an 11-run fifth inning, and every Wildcat starter had an RBI in the win.
Mills surrendered just one run on seven hits and a walk, and struck out four.
Both Guilmet and Mills have thrown more than 100 pitches in each of their past four starts, with Guilmet going over 120 each time – and over 130 twice, including 145 Friday.
“”They’re both very resilient. I would be concerned if they were guys that after you throw them, they’re tight for two days,”” Lopez said of the high pitch counts.
“”Both those guys have unbelievably resilient arms,”” he added. “”That’s not an issue whatsoever.””
Extra bases
Closer Daniel Schlereth (oblique strain) and designated hitter Bill Rhinehart (concussion) didn’t make the trip and missed the series. … Arizona’s winning streak was the longest active in the nation. … The Cardinal committed a season-high five errors Saturday. … Lefty David Coulon gave up two runs on one hit in four innings in relief of Perry yesterday. … UCLA’s sweep of USC allowed the Bruins (18-16, 8-1) to tie the Wildcats atop the Pac-10 standings.
