The Arizona baseball team dropped two of three games this weekend in a series in Salt Lake City against Utah. Here is a summary of each game.
Thursday: Arizona wins 7-6
Looking to bounce back from his previous start, Arizona starter TJ Nichols took the mound for the Wildcats.
Arizona gave him an early 2-0 lead, but Nichols gave it right back as the Utes scored three runs of their own in the first inning.
Utah scored two more runs off Nichols in the third inning to take a 5-2 lead, but he was able to settle in and tossed 6.1 innings in the afternoon.
Down 5-2 with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, Chase Davis launched a grand slam to give Arizona the 6-5 lead. Daniel Susac extended the Wildcats’ lead to 7-5 with an RBI double the next inning.
Trevor Long was able to hold off a late comeback by Utah, earning his third save on the season.
Friday: Utah wins 9-5
Utah got off to another quick start with three runs in the second inning off Arizona starter Garrett Irvin.
Mac Bingham cut the deficit to 3-2 with a two-run home run in the third inning.
Irvin went just three innings, allowing three runs on four hits to go along with one strikeout and two walks.
Anthony Susac came in and struggled, allowing one run in the fourth inning and four runs in the fifth inning as he recorded just four outs. The Utes took an 8-3 lead after five innings of play.
Tanner O’Tremba tried to bring the Wildcats back into the game with a two-run long ball in the seventh inning. Arizona loaded the bases later in the same frame with one out, but couldn’t bring in any runner home as Noah Turley struck out and Garen Caulfield grounded out.
Arizona left 11 runners on base overall on the afternoon as Utah evened the series up.
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Saturday: Utah wins 11-4
Chandler Murphy took the mound for the Wildcats in the rubber match between Arizona and Utah.
The Wildcats this time took the early lead as they plated one run in the first inning, followed by a two-run single with the bases loaded for Mac Bingham in the second inning.
Utah scored two runs in the bottom half of the second inning to cut the deficit to 3-2.
After a home run by Tanner O’Tremba in the third inning gave Arizona a 4-2 lead, the Utes exploded for eight runs the next half inning highlighted by a base-clearing triple with the bases loaded to give Utah an 8-4 lead.
Murphy went just 2.2 innings, allowing eight runs on seven hits to go along with three strikeouts and three walks.
Utah plated another three runs in the seventh inning and secured the series victory over the Wildcats.
Arizona will look to rebound with a quick turnaround on the road as they head to Nebraska for two games against Creighton.They will be playing at 4 p.m. MST on Monday, which is being televised on FS1. The second game will be on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MST on CBS Sports Network.
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