The University of Arizona baseball team had an impressive outing as the Wildcats’ (41-18) explosive batting efforts made for a historic performance, marking a program record 8 home runs on their way to a 14-4 victory over Utah Valley University (33-28) in the Eugene NCAA Regional on Saturday, May 31, at PK Park in Eugene, Oregon. The win secured Arizona a spot in Sunday’s regional final.
Arizona struck early with 2 runs in the top of the first, but Utah Valley responded in the bottom half with RBIs from Mason Strong and Dominic Longo II to level the game at 2-2. Longo went 2-for-3 and was the lone Wolverine to record multiple hits.
The Wildcats quickly pulled away with long balls in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 7-2 lead. Utah Valley clawed back within 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Arizona broke the game open with a 6-run seventh. Easton Breyfogle added a 2-run double and Mason White capped his night with a double in the same frame. This was White’s 110th career extra-base hit, tying the all-time program record.
The Wildcats launched 8 home runs and tallied 14 extra-base hits — both single-game records. White led the charge with 3 home runs, becoming the first Arizona player to do so in a postseason game and just the ninth ever to hit 3 in a single contest. He finished the night 4-for-5 with 4 runs, 4 RBIs and a walk.
Brendan Summerhill, Aaron Walton, Adonys Guzman, Garen Caulfield and Tommy Splaine all went deep, with Caulfield’s eighth-inning blast breaking the program’s previous record of 7 home runs in a game. Walton went 3-for-6 while Splaine logged four total hits on 5 attempts, while Summerhill and Guzman combined for 4 RBIs.
On the mound, Arizona’s bullpen silenced any comeback hopes. Right-handers Casey Hintz and Michael Hilker Jr. combined for six dominant innings of relief, allowing just one hit and no runs. Hilker struck out seven over three innings to earn his first career save, while Hintz improved to 7-4.
Arizona will play for a spot in the Super Regional on Sunday, June 1, at 7 p.m. MST where the Wildcats’ opponent will depend on the outcome of the 3 p.m. MST elimination game between the California Polytechnic State University (42–18) and Utah Valley University (33–28).
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