Arizona baseball endured a rough weekend, getting swept in its three-game series against Seton Hall.
“It was a tough weekend,” head coach Andy Lopez said, “poorly coached weekend by me.”
After having their Saturday game postponed due to rain, the Wildcats (6-4) played half of Saturday’s game on Sunday and the third game of the series started half an hour after on Sunday.
Seton Hall took the second game of the series 4-2. Arizona tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth inning after junior left fielder Zach Gibbons was walked, but it fell short.
Sophomore Cody Hamlin (2-1) took the loss in the second game of the series.
Arizona’s pitching struggled once more, with eight pitching changes during the final game of the series.
Starting pitcher, freshman Morgan Earman, gave up three runs on a total of 31 pitches before sophomore Cody Moffett was called to the mound. Moffett pitched a total of 26 pitches and gave up one run before junior Nathan Bannister relieved him in the top of the second inning.
Bannister didn’t stop Seton Hall’s offense either. Another bullpen call was made, inserting sophomore Xavier Borde with one out and runners on first and second when the Pirates had the 6-0 lead.
Borde had two strikeouts for the game on a total of 39 pitches, allowing two runs.
Junior Tyler Parmenter entered in the fifth inning after Borde allowed the two runs.
Earman (1-1) took the loss. Of the eight pitchers that the Wildcats deployed, Lopez was pleased with Parmenter and Borde the most.
“I felt good with my performance for the most part,” Parmenter said. “I don’t think it’s really a problem with [the pitchers]. We just need to go out there and get it done in the game, throw strikes and compete on the mound.”
Aside from all the pitching changes, there were also some defensive changes for the Wildcats. The infield consisted of the young players like freshman Michael Hoard on first base, sophomore Cody Ramer on second, sophomore Kevin Newman for shortstop and freshman Bobby Dalbec for third baseman for the game after junior Trent Gilbert was removed from second base.
“[Trent] needs a little rest,” Lopez said. “Things are wearing down a little bit, so we gave him a rest.”
The pitching wasn’t the only problem for Arizona. “We’re not executing and we’re not capitalizing when we have runners in scoring positions,” sophomore Scott Kingery said.
Arizona returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Long Beach State at 6 p.m. at Hi Corbett Field.
—Follow Rose Aly Valenzuela @RoseAlyVal