The Pac-12 schedule makers did the Arizona Wildcats no favors. Arizona opened the conference slate at No. 23 UCLA. This weekend, the UA is hosting No. 13 Oregon. A trip to 13-5 Arizona State is up next.
Arizona coach Jay Johnson wouldn’t have it any other way.
“At Arizona, we're gonna face elite competition,” he said this week. “Instead of running from that, we want to run towards that, because I really believe that's going to help us be the best that we can be. And I don't think this week is any different.”
Oregon came to Hi Corbett Field ranked ninth in the nation in RPI. The Ducks had the best fielding percentage in the country and the second-best ERA in the Pac-12.
The 21st-ranked Wildcats beat them at their own game.
Chase Silseth struck out a career-high 11 batters, Arizona outplayed Oregon on defense and the Cats defeated the Ducks 5-4 in front of an announced crowd of 1,031.
“That was a special effort tonight,” Johnson said of Silseth. “Facing Friday starters in the Pac-12 is not easy. Just the confidence that he gives our team to say ‘I'm gonna keep you right there’ is a big deal.”
Arizona (15-6, 2-2 Pac-12) won its second game in a row after dropping two of three at UCLA. Oregon (11-5, 2-2) had won three straight entering Friday.
Silseth gave himself a B-plus after improving to 4-0 in his first season as a Wildcat.
“A-pluses, A's are complete-game shutouts,” Silseth said. “I could have made some better pitches to not get in some bad situations ... But as the season goes on, definitely getting stronger.”
Silseth recorded his third consecutive quality start. He sailed through the first 6 2/3 innings, allowing only five baserunners. Silseth then hit a batter and walked another, setting up the game’s most dramatic moment.
With the score 3-1 and left-hander Riley Cooper on in relief, Tanner Smith reached on an error by second baseman Kobe Kato. The miscue loaded the bases for Ducks slugger Kenyon Yovan, who entered Friday with a .436 batting average and six home runs.
Preston Price was summoned from the bullpen. The situation was nothing new for him. He has entered games with the bases loaded multiple times this season.
Per usual, Price delivered. He struck out Yovan with a slider to end the threat.
“That was a big tipping point in the game, obviously,” Johnson said. “To execute the pitches he did right there, that was him. But it was awesome.”
Price has inherited 19 baserunners this season. Only three have scored.
The senior right-hander notched three more strikeouts in the eighth, and he remained in the game to start the ninth with the score 5-1. A walk and a single brought Vince Vannelle out of the bullpen. Vannelle yielded a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Anthony Hall on the first pitch he saw. Vannelle then retired the next three batters – the 1-2-3 hitters in Oregon’s lineup – to register his fourth save.
“Great poise by Vince,” said Johnson, who noticed that Vannelle seemed composed after surrendering the home run. “I thought he sent a real message on the next pitch, throwing it exactly where he wanted to. Just a really good job by him.”
Runs were hard to come by against savvy, veteran Oregon left-hander Robert Ahlstrom, who entered Friday with a 2.12 ERA. The Wildcats managed to score just enough to win.
They took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Third baseman Nik McClaughry, making his first start for Arizona, began the rally with a single. Donta’ Williams drove him home with a wind-aided double off the left-field wall. Jacob Berry followed with a single up the middle to score Williams.
Oregon cut the deficit in half in the fifth. Center fielder Robby Ashford led off with a double. After advancing to third on a bunt, Ashford scored on Smith’s infield single.
Arizona got the run back in the bottom half of the frame. Kato led off with an infield single. He advanced to second on a McClaughry sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch. Williams then fought off a 3-2 curveball, getting just enough of it to ground out to first and score Kato despite the infield being drawn in.
The Wildcats padded the lead in the ninth – and, as it turned out, they needed to. Daniel Susac drove in a run with a double and scored on an error. It was the first unearned run Oregon has allowed this season.
The Ducks made two errors Friday. They had committed only three in their first 15 games. Kato’s error was the only one Arizona made.
Inside pitch
- Tanner O’Tremba made his second consecutive start in left field. Johnson said veterans such as O’Tremba and McClaughry – both transfers – likely will play key roles for the Wildcats the rest of the season.
- Right-hander Cullen Kafka – who has a 0.43 ERA in four starts – is scheduled to start for Oregon in Game 2 Saturday afternoon. He will face UA lefty Garrett Irvin (0-1, 2.55).
- Game 1 was televised by Pac-12 Networks but available only online outside of Oregon. Game 2 will air on the national feed. Like Game 1, Game 3 Sunday will air only on Pac-12 Oregon.
