Arizona Baseball

No. 7 Arizona closes Pac-12 schedule in rubber match with Oregon State

Information from the Arizona media relations department contributed to this report:

Seventh-ranked Arizona dropped a tight pitchers’ duel to Oregon State on Saturday night, preventing the Wildcats from taking sole possession of the Pac-12 lead.

The Wildcats (37-14, 20-9 Pac-12) had a chance to take the conference lead over No. 6 Oregon in percentage points after the Ducks (35-12, 18-8) lost 6-5 earlier in the day to visiting Stanford.

The Ducks (.692) hold a slight advantage over Arizona (.690) in that important category that will determine the Pac-12 champion because of uneven scheduling due to COVID-19 protocols.

The Wildcats close their series with the Beavers — and their Pac-12 schedule — Sunday at noon at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Ore.. They have a non-conference series scheduled against Dixie State next weekend at Hi Corbett.

Oregon plays its last regular season game at home today against No. 15 Stanford, before playing upstart Cal in Berkeley, Calif., next weekend. The Golden Bears are going for a sweep of No. 18 UCLA on Sunday at Los Angeles.

In Sunday’s loss to Oregon State, Arizona starting pitcher Garrett Irvin posted his third straight quality start to keep Arizona in the game. The southpaw worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed just three runs on nine hits while striking out five.

The Arizona bullpen was effective as the offense tried to keep the game close. Right-hander Dawson Netz and lefty Gil Luna combined to hold Oregon State (33-19, 15-11) hitless and struck out three over the final 1 2/3 innings.

The Wildcats managed just one run, a sixth-inning score on a delayed first-and-third steal that Kobe Kato and Donta’ Williams executed perfectly. The run extended Arizona’s Pac-12-best scoring streak to 160 games.

Arizona threatened in the top of the ninth, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. Ultimately, the Wildcats were turned away, forcing a Sunday rubber game to decide the series.

Top Arizona batters:

  • 2B Kobe Kato: 1-for-3, R, 2B
  • DH Jacob Berry: 1-for-3, 2B, BB

Click here to access the box score.

Pac-12 Baseball Standings

As of Arizona's game on April 14
TeamRecPct.GBOvrPct.Stk
Arizona11-5.688--24-10.706W2
Oregon State10-5.6670.524-7.774W4
UCLA8-4.6671.023-9.719W1
Stanford9-6.6001.518-10.643W4
Oregon7-5.583221-11.656W2
California7-8.4673.516-16.500W3
Arizona State5-7.593415-19.441W1
Washington6-9.4004.518-14-1.561W1
Utah5-8.3854.516-31.340L1
USC4-8.333518-12.600W1
Washington State4-11.2676.512-19.387L1

Saturday’s scores

  • Oregon State 3, Arizona 1
  • Stanford 6, Oregon 5
  • USC 6, ASU 1
  • Cal 4, UCLA 2
  • Washington 2, Utah 1

Sunday’s games

  • Arizona at Oregon State, noon
  • Stanford at Oregon, noon
  • ASU at USC, noon
  • Utah at Washington, noon
  • Cal at UCLA, 1 p.m.
print
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Comments
To Top