Arizona’s Chase Davis hit his second grand slam of the season to lead the Wildcats to the opening win of the Wildcats’ series with Utah on Thursday.
The Wildcats (24-10, 11-5) also had help from their bullpen to solidify the 7-6 win at Salt Lake City, their sixth straight conference road victoryh.
After taking a 2-0 lead, the Arizona trailed 5-2 entering the fifth inning.
Pac-12 Baseball Standings
As of Arizona's game on April 14Team | 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 |
A Utah error, single from Tanner O’Tremba, and a hit-batter loaded the bases for Davis, who hit the home run over the right-centerfield fence. It was his 11th home run of the season, which places him in a tie for first in the Pac-12.
The Wildcats scored an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double from Daniel Susac and held on over the final three-plus innings against Utah (18-14, 5-8).
Arizona starting pitcher TJ Nichols improved to 5-2 after working 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed six runs on 12 hits and improved as the game went on, at one point retiring six straight batters in the fifth and sixth innings.
A pair of righties — Quinn Flanagan and Trevor Long — combined to hold Utah scoreless on just one hit over the remainder of the game. Long earned his third save of the year and improved his ERA to 0.87.
The second game of the series is Friday with first pitch scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Brian Jeffries will call the action on KCUB 1290-AM.