A little home cooking can cure even the worst midseason ills.
Arizona broke its seven-game losing streak Friday with a win over Washington at Hi Corbett Field and followed it with a dominant performance Saturday, scoring seven runs in the first three innings of a 14-2 victory.
After being swept at No. 1 UCLA and No. 9 Arizona State, the Wildcats fell out of the top 100 in the RPI rankings. But with the Washington series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday and a three-game bout with California on deck, following a game at Grand Canyon next Tuesday, Arizona (15-14, 4-7 Pac-12) has a chance to get back on track.
“What I think they’ve done the last two days is played with a lot of peace of mind,” coach Jay Johnson said. “We are where we are, and you can’t overturn that. They’ve wanted to play and win every game that we’ve taken the field this season. There’s been some nice maturity that’s happened, maybe slower than we want to, but we play a lot of young guys and this is their first crack at this thing.
“I think a few of them are settling in with really good peace of mind.”
Saturday’s game couldn’t have gone much better.
The Wildcats recorded 14 hits, including eight for extra bases from seven different hitters. Through two games against the Huskies (14-11, 5-6), catcher Austin Wells has recording six RBIs while going 5 for 7 to bump his average to .402. The Arizona freshman record is .418, set by T.J. Steele in 2006.
Wells plated the first run with a single to right field and gave the Wildcats a 10-run lead in the fifth inning with a two-run double to left.
“It’s definitely been a great comeback after the last couple of weekends,” Wells said. “Everybody has turned it around, and we’re swinging it really well.”
Switch-hitter Dayton Dooney blasted his fourth home run in five games, all lefty, and Cameron Cannon drove in three runs with a double in the third inning.
After two home runs in Friday’s series opener, Nick Quintana popped up and struck out in his first two at bats Saturday. The strikeout was particularly frustrating as it followed an intentional walk issued to Wells with a runner on third and one out in the third inning.
Quintana got his revenge in the fourth, working an 0-2 count into a two-out walk, loading the bases and keeping the inning alive. Arizona scored two runs on an overthrow to third base by Washington catcher Nick Kahle, and starter Jordan Jones was replaced one batter later. For the second time in as many games, Arizona had chased Washington’s starter before the end of the fourth.
Arizona starter Quinn Flanagan continued his strong season on the mound at Hi Corbett Field. The freshman righty improved to 4-0 with a 1.45 ERA in 31 innings at home, where the Wildcats — at 13-5 — have just looked like a different team.
“We’ve spent a lot of our life in this building,” Johnson said. “And I think it has made us one of the better home teams in college baseball, or at least in the West. It’s nice coming back here after a really tough trip.”
