Arizona’s long road trip got off to a rough start.
The Wildcats struck out 19 times and San Diego scored six runs in its last two at-bats in a 10-8 loss on Friday night, the first of 11 consecutive games away from home.
Arizona (3-2) got its scoring via a pair of 4-run innings. Back-to-back 2-out, 2- run hits by Emilio Corona and Garen Caufield gave the UA a 4-3 lead in the third.
The other 4-spot came in the ninth, after San Diego (3-2) had built a 10-4 lead mostly against the Arizona bullpen.
The Toreros tied the game in the fifth against UA starter Jackson Kent, who allowed three runs in the first inning-plus before retiring nine in a row at one point. Kent would go six innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs with two walks and five strikeouts.
Arizona’s bullpen then took over and was far from effective. Raul Garayzar got the loss after allowing three runs in an inning-plus, then Dawson Netz was tagged for three runs as San Diego scored five times in the eighth to break the game open.
San Diego starter Josh Randall, a former UA pitcher, had 10 strikeouts in five innings before Calvin Schapira followed with eight strikeouts over the next three frames.
The UA loaded the bases with no out in the ninth, and after a Brendan Summerhill sacrifice fly Mason White hit a 3-run home run
Arizona and San Diego play the second of a 3-game series Saturday at 7 p.m. MT.