Arizona baseball pummels Utah Tech to wrap up homestand; Wildcats pile up 24 runs, 23 hits

In 2022, Chip Hale’s first season as Arizona coach, the Wildcats went 3-2 in midweek home games.

They haven’t lost one since.

Arizona won its eighth straight midweek game at Hi Corbett Field on Tuesday, defeating Utah Tech 24-4 in front of an announced crowd of 2,113.

The Wildcats went 3-1 on their season-opening homestand. They play 11 consecutive games away from Tucson over the next three weeks, starting with Game 1 of a three-game series at San Diego on Friday.

As much as that stretch should help Arizona’s RPI, losing those midweek games at home can undo all the good.

The setbacks the Wildcats suffered in ’22 were to a quality opponent, Grand Canyon, which made the NCAA Tournament that season for the second year in a row.

“We got surprised the first time,” Hale said, referring to his home debut — a 19-3 loss to the Lopes. “We came back from Arlington, and we got routed by Grand Canyon, which was a really good team.

“Everybody’s pitching the guys that don’t pitch on the weekend. We were probably as thin at that point in our tenure, the first year, (in terms) of extra pitching. We feel good about our extra guys (now). We talked about midweek games, and probably that’s what got us in the (NCAA) Tournament last year.”

Since an 11-7 defeat against GCU on May 3, 2022, Arizona has scored at least 10 runs in every midweek home contest. The Wildcats have averaged 14.5 runs in those games. Tuesday’s 24 runs were Arizona’s most since a 28-7 win over Oregon on May 5, 2019.

The Wildcats’ bats were active from the jump Tuesday after spotting the Trailblazers a 3-0 lead. Arizona scored at least one run in seven of eight innings. The Wildcats notched six runs in the second inning, four in the sixth and seven in the seventh. Seven UA batters had at least two hits.

Sophomore left fielder Brendan Summerhill tied the school record for hits in a game by going 6 for 6 with two doubles, three runs scored and five RBIs. He’s batting .579 (11 for 19) through four games with a team-high 11 runs batted in.

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“Every at-bat he comes out, it’s the same approach,” fellow sophomore Mason White said. “He doesn’t change. He just he just keeps it the same. Nothing flusters him, and he just finds a way every single at-bat. So it’s really cool.”

White (3 for 4, three runs, four RBIs) and senior right fielder Emilio Corona (2 for 3, two runs, two RBIs) each hit home runs. White’s two-run shot was his first of the season. Corona’s, a solo blast, was his team-leading third.

The Arizona coaching staff took a “midweek” approach to pitching in that it utilized multiple arms; no UA hurler went longer than two innings.

Five pitchers made their UA debuts, including three who took the mound in a college game for the first time.

The debuts included two pitchers with local ties: freshman right-hander Owen Kramkowski (Walden Grove High School) and senior left-hander Jaeden Swanberg (Salpointe Catholic/Pima Community College).

Kramkowski, who was unable to pitch for most of his senior year at Walden Grove because of an elbow injury, allowed one unearned run in one inning out of the bullpen.

Swanberg, who spent the 2021-23 seasons at Pima, followed Kramkowski and pitched two perfect innings. Swanberg struck out three of the six batters he faced.

Inside pitch

Summerhill became the first UA player to get six hits in a game since Jason Donald in 2004. It’s been done seven times.

Senior catcher Blake McDonald, a transfer from Saint Mary’s, recorded his first two hits as a Wildcat. He scored three runs and drove in two.

Utah Tech flew into Arizona on Tuesday morning — from Las Vegas to Phoenix — and was scheduled to fly back Tuesday night.