Wildcats unable to follow up big win over Tennessee, fall to Fresno State 5-0

MESA — Fresh off its season-opening win over No. 2 Tennessee Friday night, Arizona had a quick turnaround facing Fresno State Saturday afternoon at Sloan Park.

The Wildcats threatened early and often, but they were unable to come up with any timely hits and fell 5-0 to the Bulldogs to drop their first game of the season

Arizona’s last, best chance came in the seventh inning with two runners on base, two outs and Chase Davis at the plate representing the tying run. With the count 2-2, Davis was called out before the next pitch was even thrown as he was deemed out due to not being ready at the plate in time, a rule that was changed from last year.

Davis has to be in the box ready to hit with 10 seconds remaining in the 20-second timer for the pitcher. UA coach Chip Hale was hoping the umpires would give some leeway early in the season given that it’s a new rule, but that wasn’t the case for Davis in this instance.

“We thought maybe they would give some warnings,” Hale said. “It is the correct call. By the new rules, that’s what happens, so it’s a tough call.”

After an up-and-down freshman season, Anthony Susac took the mound for the first start of his sophomore campaign. Susac said during Arizona’s media day earlier in the week that his primary focus this offseason was getting stronger and increasing his velocity.

He got into some trouble early, as the first batter of the game hit a hard line drive off the glove of Nik McClaughry. That was followed by another single, a double play, a walk and a double to give Fresno State a 2-0 lead.

The Wildcats had their first scoring opportunity in the second inning when a walk drawn by Kiko Romero was followed by a double by Cameron LaLiberte. They were left stranded as Emilio Corona struck out in his first at-bat with Arizona, and Mason White grounded out.

In the second and sixth frames, UA had runners on second and third base with one out before the next hitter in each inning struck out. Overall in the game, Arizona hitters struck out eight times after striking out 10 times against Tennessee.

That was the theme all afternoon for the Wildcats as they were able to put runners on base and in scoring position but could not drive them home. Arizona had runners on base in all but one inning, but they Wildcats went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

“Just probably trying to do a little too much, trying too hard,” Hale said. “Sometimes you just have to take what they give you and hit some groundballs in the middle of the field and score a run here and score a run there. We weren’t able to do it.”

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Susac was able to settle in after that rough first inning. He recorded a quality start, allowing three runs on seven hits across six innings to go along with two strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter while throwing 89 pitches.

“I think he can do better,” Hale said. “But three runs for six innings, we’ll take that any day of the week.”

Fresno State added a couple more runs in the eighth inning off redshirt freshman Jackson Kent before Arizona went down quietly in the last couple of frames.

Hale’s message to the team after the loss was trying to get something positive out of the game. One of those positives was the job LaLiberte did in his first game this season behind the plate, which included throwing a pair of runners out trying to steal.

“I thought he caught great,” Hale said. “I thought he was catching the ball great. He was framing great. He had a good at-bat, a couple of good at-bats, so positive on that side with Tommy (Splaine) last night and Cam today.”

Hale confirmed the team will go back to Splaine behind the plate on Sunday night, with LaLiberte catching Monday’s game.

Inside pitch

Third baseman Tony Bullard continued his excellent play, collecting a pair of doubles and flashing the leather and his arm in the field, making a number of crucial plays. He has three hits so far, and all of them have gone for extra bases.

The Wildcats will return to Salt River Fields in Scottsdale at 6 p.m. Sunday to take on Michigan State in their third of four games in the MLB Desert Invitational. Junior transfer Bradon Zastrow is slated to start for Arizona.

Zastrow, a left-hander, transferred to Arizona after pitching the past three years at Pima Community College, where he logged a 3.85 ERA across 27 career appearances (20 starts) with 111 strikeouts in 107⅔ innings.