The Arizona Wildcats continue to struggle against Utah. The way theyโre playing right now, theyโd struggle against just about anyone.
The Cats werenโt playing great baseball entering Fridayโs Pac-12 opener against the Utes, but they werenโt playing terribly. As recently as last weekend, there were signs of better things to come.
Arizona backslid in a big way Friday. The Wildcats couldnโt throw strikes and couldnโt get outs. Arizona lost to Utah 21-10 โ one of the most lopsided defeats in Jay Johnsonโs three-plus seasons as coach.
"There was no phase of the game that was good enough to win a Division I baseball game tonight," Johnson said.
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 10-7. Theyโre 4-5 on their current homestand. They had a .792 winning percentage at Hi Corbett Field under Johnson before it began.
Utah had Arizonaโs number before Johnson arrived. The Utes had won the last four series entering this one, dating to Andy Lopezโs last year as UA coach in 2015.
Utah had a 10-game winning streak against Arizona that the Wildcats snapped with an 18-12 victory in last yearโs series finale in Salt Lake City. The Utes have now won 11 of their last 12 against the Cats.
Before Friday, Arizona had lost by 10 or more runs three times under Johnson. It appeared a seven-run bottom of the seventh would prevent the opener of this series from becoming No. 4. (The Wildcats trailed 18-3 entering that half-inning.) But Utah scored three runs in the ninth to bump the margin back to double digits.
Utahโs Matt Richardson slides in safely in before Arizonaโs third baseman Nick Quintana gets the throw. The Wildcats dropped to 4-5 on their current homestand, and have lost 11 of their last 12 against the Utes.
Arizona lost by 10 runs twice last season, on the road against USC and Cal. The UAโs worst defeat under Johnson came by a score of 13-1 at Texas Tech on March 7, 2017. The Red Raiders were ranked sixth in the country. They would finish 45-17.
The Wildcats won their final preseason series last weekend. Although they dropped the finale against College of Charleston, their defensive struggles seemed to be in the rearview mirror. Pitching remained a concern, but Johnson and his staff identified the problem โ too many walks and hit batsmen allowed โ and went about rectifying it.
Johnson tabbed one of his best control artists, left-hander Avery Weems, to open conference play. The senior had walked only four batters in 19ยช innings entering Friday.
Weemsโ final line showed only two walks, and he wasnโt even on the mound when one of them was completed. But he fell behind each of the first four batters he faced, allowing two singles and a walk, in a three-run first inning.
Utahโs Matt Richardson (4) slides safely in before Arizonaโs third baseman Nick Quintana (13) gets the throw, advancing from second on Oliver Dunnโs (3) RBI sac fly in the third inning of their Pac-12 game at Hi Corbett Field, Friday, March 15, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
A leaping catch by shortstop Jacob Blas off a Zack Moeller line drive limited Utah to one run in the second. Weems couldnโt get an out in the third. After a leadoff single, Johnson pulled Weems with a 3-1 count on Isaac Deveaux.
Freshman right-hander George Arias Jr., who had been one of Arizonaโs more reliable relievers, walked Deveaux. After a strikeout, Arias hit Chandler Anderson to load the bases.
Three singles, a four-pitch walk, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch led to six Utah runs. The Utes would score five more in the third โ including one on an errant throw from home to second in a first-and-third situation โ and at least one in every inning but the eighth.
"Plain and simple, it was an awful performance on the mound," Johnson said. "We have to get better. Youโre not going to win giving up runs every single inning."
PHOTOS: Utah 21, Arizona Wildcats 10, Pac-12 baseball
Even Arizonaโs most reliable hitter couldnโt come through when the game was still close. Second baseman Cameron Cannon, who entered Friday with a seven-game hitting streak and a .439 batting average, struck out on three pitches with the bases loaded and one out in the second. Cannon went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, only his second multiple-strikeout game of the season.
"A game like that is very difficult to swallow," Johnson said. "You really have to make the choice to come back and get better. Itโs all phases that have to improve."
Inside pitch
- Arizona has allowed five or more runs in an inning seven times on its current homestand.
- Nick Quintana, Ryan Holgate, Jacob Blas and Tate Soderstrom each had two RBIs for the Wildcats. It was Quintanaโs second straight game with multiple RBIs.
- The highlight of Arizonaโs seven-run seventh was Dayton Dooney doubling to conclude a 12-pitch at-bat during which he fouled off seven pitches.
- The game lasted 4 hours, 20 minutes. The teams combined to throw 410 pitches.
- Right-hander Quinn Flanagan will start for Arizona on Saturday, Johnson said.
- A moment of silence was observed before the game for Karl Eller and Kevin Ward. Eller, the entrepreneur for whom Arizonaโs business school is named, died Sunday at age 90. Ward, a former UA baseball and football player, died Saturday at 57.
