Arizona left the bases loaded in the first inning. It happened again in the third. The Wildcats failed to score eight baserunners in all over the first three frames.
Could anyone deliver the hit Arizona needed to rally against No. 1 Oregon State?
Mac Bingham could. So could Chase Davis.
The UA outfielders came through in the clutch. On a day when Arizona’s hitters repeatedly went deep into the count, Bingham and Davis went deep — over the wall — when their team needed it most.
Bingham and Davis’ home runs in the fifth and sixth innings sparked a rally from a four-run deficit and fueled the Wildcats’ most significant victory of the season. Arizona defeated No. 1 Oregon State 10-5 Sunday afternoon at Hi Corbett Field to take their weekend series.
The Wildcats (35-18, 16-11 Pac-12) defeated the Beavers (40-11, 19-8) for the second day in a row. OSU hadn’t lost consecutive games all season. The Beavers also hadn’t dropped a series since losing two of three vs. Stanford April 1-3.
“We have a lot of fight, and we have a lot of dudes,” said Bingham, whose three-run homer in the fifth trimmed Arizona’s deficit to 5-4. “Obviously, they got out to an early lead. But I don't think anyone had any panic in them. We’ve proven that we can come back.
“We did that on Friday. Honestly, the end of Friday (scoring four runs in the last two innings after falling behind 12-5) gave all of us a little more confidence going into Saturday, Sunday.”
Arizona pulled it off by flipping the script against OSU. The Beavers entered the weekend having drawn the most walks in the Pac-12 — and having issued the fewest. UA hitters worked nine walks off OSU pitchers. The Beavers’ previous high this season was five.
“I think Friday night set the tone,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “They saw us come back and get their closer in the game. And they were like, ‘These guys can hit. We can never be comfortable.’
“We talked about it all fall with our own pitchers. Sometimes hitters scare guys out of the zone, because they know if they throw the ball in the zone, there's a good chance we're gonna hit it.
“It's a hot day. The field’s hard. The wind was blowing ... so you know the ball was gonna fly. They're out of their comfort zone playing here compared to what they're used to.”
The game did not start favorably for the Wildcats. Freshman starter Anthony Susac walked the first two batters he faced and four in all in three innings. He surrendered five runs and exited with a 5-1 deficit.
The bullpen picked him up. Javyn Pimental, Chris Barraza, Trevor Long and Quinn Flanagan combined for six scoreless innings. They allowed four hits and one walk.
“Coach (Dave) Lawn is working so hard with these guys,” Hale said. “And it's paying off.”
The bullpen kept the offense within striking distance. Bingham delivered the first blow, sending a 3-1 fastball from DJ Carpenter over the wall in left field. Up to that point, Arizona had been 0 for 4 with two outs and 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
“It's just a matter of staying with it and being able to forget the last (at-bat),” Hale said. “It's tough. They’re throwing a lot of off-speed pitches. Those are good breaking-ball pitchers; they’re not going to give in. So you gotta get one up and whack it. We were able to do that. If you get into a fastball count, you gotta put it in play.
“We talk to them all the time: If you flood the bases with people, eventually it's going to turn around.”
Bingham said he was just trying to put the ball in play and figured it would sail with Carpenter throwing in the mid-90s. Bingham had struck out with the bases loaded to end the third inning.
“As long as the ball’s put in play, we had a chance,” Bingham said. “That's the only thing that was going through my mind.
“We always felt like we were in the game. To be within one gives us a little more boost, a little more energy. It kind of got things rolling.”
With the score still 5-4, Daniel Susac led off the bottom of the sixth with a double. With one out, Davis launched his team-leading 15th home run of the season over the wall in right. Davis wasn’t sure he got all of it, but it reached the roof of the Terry Francona Hitting Center nonetheless.
“It was a little too high for my liking,” Davis said. “But I’ll take it.”
Arizona parlayed two more walks into another run in the sixth. The Wildcats pulled away in the seventh, scoring three runs for the third consecutive inning. Susac, Tony Bullard and Garen Caulfield each had doubles. Susac finished with four of Arizona’s 14 hits.
Oregon State remains in first place in the Pac-12. But by taking two of three from the Beavers, the Wildcats proved they could play with anyone. They close the regular season at Oregon in a series that starts Thursday.
“It's just a momentum starter going into the next series,” Davis said. “It doesn't matter who we played the weekend before, who we got coming up. We're gonna head over to Eugene next week and play some good Arizona baseball.”
Inside pitch
- Bullard, Tommy Splaine and Bingham each had two hits. Davis, Bullard and Noah Turley each had two or more walks.
- Shortstop Nik McClaughry had four stellar defensive plays, and Davis made two diving catches in left field. The Wildcats did not commit an error for the eighth consecutive game.
- Flanagan got the final three outs in what was likely his final appearance at Hi Corbett Field.
- The attendance was announced at 2,666, putting Arizona over 100,000 for the season. It’s the fourth time the Wildcats have eclipsed that mark at Hi Corbett Field.
