For Arizona baseball, Saturday evening’s 11-2 dispatching of No. 7 Oregon State was a glimpse of how well the Wildcats could do if they gelled together.
Saturday’s success on the diamond may have provided a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season so far for the Wildcats. But on Sunday, Arizona (12-18, 2-7 Pac-12) fell back into its old ways, dropping the series’ rubber match against the Beavers (21-6, 6-3 Pac-12) 11-0 at Hi Corbett Field.
The Wildcats were limited to four hits on Sunday, and while they offensively exploded with a 17-hit performance on Saturday, they were outhit 44-27 by the Beavers in the series.
When asked what the difference was between Arizona’s success on Saturday and its defeat on Sunday, head coach Andy Lopez gave credit where it was warranted and praised Oregon State’s starter, Jace Fry.
“He was lights-out, had good command, a great breaking ball and worked at a good pace,” Lopez said. “He was fun to watch — painful, but fun to watch.”
Lopez said that momentum starts with the pitchers.
Fry had no problem conquering Arizona’s lineup and turned in a seven-inning performance, striking out five, walking two and allowing just one hit.
The 6-foot, 197-pound lefty held a no-hitter through seven innings before UA freshman third baseman Willie Calhoun slapped a single up the middle. Junior second baseman Trent Gilbert and sophomore outfielders Zach Gibbons and Scott Kingery joined Calhoun as the only players to record hits against the Beavers on Sunday.
Fry blanked the heart of Arizona’s lineup and caused the Wildcats’ No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 hitters to go 1-for-9 at the plate with five strikeouts.
“[Fry] was doing a lot of things well,” Gilbert said. “He was working ahead, pounding the zone and hitting his spots. [Fry] had good offspeed and had control over all of his pitches. Those things combined made it really tough on the hitters.”
After allowing his first hit, Fry was pulled and relieved by Scott Schultz, who helped close the door for the Beavers.
In his fifth start of the year, freshman pitcher Austin Schnabel (0-4) took the loss, lasted a third of an inning and gave up four runs on four hits and a walk.
Sophomore southpaw Cody Moffett came in to relieve Schnabel and got the Wildcats out of the inning. Over the next three frames, Moffett challenged Fry in a pitchers’ duel. The two combined to retire 18 of the 21 batters faced over that three-inning span, but Moffett eventually fatigued and was replaced after complaining about searing pain in his elbow.
In 4.1 innings of work, he struck out three and allowed one run off four hits, two walks and a wild pitch.
“They were swinging at a lot of my pitches [and] I was throwing fastballs for strikes when I needed to,” Moffett said. “Other than that last inning, I feel like I had pretty good command [of my pitches].
Arizona had trouble with both offensive and defensive execution — a continuing trend for a team that has now gone 1-9 over its last 10 games and been outscored 72-48 in that span.
The Wildcats failed to move any players past second base.
Up next for the UA is a trip to Utah this Friday.
—Follow Evan Rosenfeld @EvanRosenfeld17
