Jay Johnson called it his βfavorite inning of the season.β The Arizona coach was referring to the bottom of the fifth against Utah on Sunday. The Utes had trimmed the Wildcatsβ lead to one run. Arizona responded with a five-run outburst.
The inning earned Johnsonβs approval not only because of what the Wildcats did but when they did it. It embodied the entire weekend: Whenever they faced adversity, the Cats bounced back.
Despite a rough start and a messy middle, Arizona defeated Utah 18-7 Sunday at Hi Corbett Field. The victory gave the Wildcats their first series win over the Utes since 2014. That seemed like an improbable outcome after an 11-run defeat to open the series Friday.
βIt tells you a lot about who they are,β Johnson said. βWhen you have a bad performance like that, from the outside itβs easy to make a snap judgment on people. Luckily, I get to see into who they are every day. I wasnβt surprised at all.β
Junior center fielder Matt Fraizer had four hits and four RBIs to pace a 20-hit attack. Left-hander Randy Labaut allowed one earned run in five innings out of the bullpen to earn the win and improve to 2-1.
Arizona enters the toughest part of its schedule to date with a two-game winning streak and a 12-7 overall record (2-1 Pac-12). After hosting 15-4 New Mexico State on Tuesday, the UA plays seven straight road games, including weekend series at UCLA and Arizona State. The Bruins are ranked second in the country and just took a series against Oregon State. The Sun Devils are the last remaining unbeaten team in the nation.
βEverybody wants to win every game,β Johnson said. βBut itβs important, even as we win games, that we improve while weβre doing it. I think this was a good step.β
Arizonaβs first positive response of the weekend came Saturday, when the Wildcats rebounded from a 21-10 shellacking and defeated the Utes 8-0. Arizona fell behind 3-0 Sunday but quickly erased that deficit, posting two runs in the bottom of the first and five in the second.
Utah scored once in the fourth to make it 7-4 and twice in the fifth to make it 7-6. The top half of that inning looked like some of the shaky ones that preceded Saturdayβs sharp performance: The Wildcats committed two errors and walked a batter. Both runs were unearned.
Labaut, who relieved starter Bryce Collins after a leadoff double, minimized the damage by striking out Oliver Dunn to end the inning.
βJust getting all the momentum back to our dugout,β Labaut said. βIt was kind of a funky inning. Then they put up a five-spot.β
Freshman Austin Wells kick-started the bottom of the fifth with a hustling one-out double that deflected off Utes first baseman Shea Kramer. Jacob Blas followed with a triple to right-center field and came home on Tate Soderstromβs sacrifice fly.
Ryan Holgate followed with a triple and scored on an error. A pair of walks loaded the bases. Fraizer then knocked in two more runs with a single to center on a 1-2 pitch.
βWe had adversity, and we just flipped it,β Fraizer said. βIt shows how this team is maturing really fast and at the right time. I think weβre heading in the right direction right now.β
Arizona scored five runs in the eighth to put the game away.
The Wildcats ended up matching the Utesβ margin of victory from Game 1. But it was far from a flawless performance.
Arizona committed four errors β two apiece by shortstop Blas and third baseman Nick Quintana. Defense had been a major problem for the Wildcats earlier in the homestand, including a stretch during which they made four-plus errors in four straight games. They had made four, total, in four games before Sunday.
Collins and Labaut combined to walk seven batters, an issue that had plagued the pitching staff before Quinn Flanaganβs six-hit, three-walk shutout Saturday. Collins, in particular, struggled with his control, walking two of the first three batters he faced before yielding a three-run homer on an 0-2 pitch to Erick Migueles.
βTheyβre not trying to suck or throw balls or not make plays,β Johnson said. βSo you can look at it two ways.
βThose guys (Blas and Quintana) made significant plays after they made mistakes. After we made mistake pitches, we made significant pitches. The response to the in-game adversity was the best thing that I saw today.β
Arizona has a 6-5 mark on its current homestand with one game left. That can be looked at two ways as well.
While they were hoping for better, the Wildcats have won three consecutive series. They also have won four of their past six games.
βI think we have a lot of momentum building right now,β said Wells, who went 3 for 5. βWeβre on the upslope.β
Inside pitch
- Arizona reached double figures in runs for the ninth time this year. The 20 hits were a season high.
- Fraizerβs four RBIs gave him 28 for the season β matching his total for all of 2018. Fraizer is batting .412 and has struck out only six times in 85 at-bats.
- Junior second baseman Cameron Cannon had three hits and three RBIs for the second straight game. Cannon is hitting a team-best .449. His OPS (on-base plus slugging) is 1.289.
- Quintana went 2 for 5 with two RBIs and extended his hitting streak to four games. He has gone 7 for 17 during that span, raising his average from .264 to .300.
- Donta Williams scored four runs, matching his season and career high.
- Migueles played at Canyon del Oro High School and Pima College. His home run was his second of the season.
