Information from the Arizona media relations department contributed to this report:
Arizona got a complete-game effort from left-hander Garrett Irvin in a 4-1 series-clinching victory over Washington on Saturday night at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona (34-13, 18-8 Pac-12) will go for the series sweep against Washington (17-26, 3-17) on Sunday at 11 a.m.
The Wildcats have only four Pac-12 games remaining including Sunday’s game and then a three-game series at Oregon State next week.
They presently are percentage points behind Oregon (32-11, 16-7) atop the Pac-12 standings. The Ducks will try to sweep their series at Utah on Sunday.
Stanford, which led the league by winning percentage entering Saturday, lost at Cal on Saturday in a walk-off victory for the Golden Bears. The Cardinal (28-11, 13-7) are two games behind Arizona but close in winning percentage (see standings below).
Because of an uneven schedule due to COVID-19 protocols, the Pac-12 champ will be based on winning percentage of conference games.
With Saturday’s win, the Wildcats sealed a perfect Pac-12 series home slate, winning every conference series in Tucson. They will play for their third straight conference home series sweep on Sunday.
Irvin worked his first career Division I complete game with 114 pitches, tying his season-high mark. He allowed just one run on eight hits while striking out six. Irvin’s effort was the first complete game for an Arizona pitcher since Avery Weems worked nine innings against Sam Houston State in May 2019.
4-1 Cats! #Gary pic.twitter.com/8ezuTDiO9T
— Jay Johnson (@UACoachJ) May 16, 2021
The defense behind Irvin came up with numerous highlight-worthy plays, including by Tony Bullard, Donta’ Williams, Daniel Susac punctuating an error-free effort.
Bullard also delivered the game-winning hit for the Wildcats in the bottom of the fourth inning, a two-run single to left center that put Arizona ahead 3-1.
Arizona’s top batters:
3B Tony Bullard: 2-for-3, 2 RBI
CF Donta’ Williams: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B
LF Mac Bingham: 1-for-3, RBI
Access the box score by clicking here.
Saturday’s win improved Jay Johnson’s six-year coaching record at Arizona to 197-109.
Pac-12 Baseball Standings
As of Arizona's game on April 14| Team | Rec | Pct. | GB | Ovr | Pct. | Stk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 11-5 | .688 | -- | 24-10 | .706 | W2 |
| Oregon State | 10-5 | .667 | 0.5 | 24-7 | .774 | W4 |
| UCLA | 8-4 | .667 | 1.0 | 23-9 | .719 | W1 |
| Stanford | 9-6 | .600 | 1.5 | 18-10 | .643 | W4 |
| Oregon | 7-5 | .583 | 2 | 21-11 | .656 | W2 |
| California | 7-8 | .467 | 3.5 | 16-16 | .500 | W3 |
| Arizona State | 5-7 | .593 | 4 | 15-19 | .441 | W1 |
| Washington | 6-9 | .400 | 4.5 | 18-14-1 | .561 | W1 |
| Utah | 5-8 | .385 | 4.5 | 16-31 | .340 | L1 |
| USC | 4-8 | .333 | 5 | 18-12 | .600 | W1 |
| Washington State | 4-11 | .267 | 6.5 | 12-19 | .387 | L1 |
Saturday’s schedule
- Arizona 4, Washington 1
- UCLA 5, UC Santa Barbara 2
- USC 3, Washington State 2
- Oregon 16, Utah 3.
- Cal 5, Stanford 4
- ASU 11, Oregon State 5
Sunday’s games
- Washington at Arizona, 11 a.m.
- Oregon at Utah, 10 a.m.
- Washington State at USC, noon
- Oregon State at ASU, 12:30 p.m.
- Stanford at Cal, 1:05 p.m.
- UC Santa Barbara at UCLA, 2 p.m.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
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