A disastrous 7th inning on Thursday put Arizona behind in the count for the weekend. But rather that let that opening loss set the tone for the series, the Wildcats kept their regular goal—two out of three—in focus.
The UA achieved its mission on Saturday afternoon, winning 7-5 at BYU to take the series and stay in the hunt for the Big 12 regular season title.
Mason White’s solo home run to lead off the top of the 7th broke a 5-5 tie, the only run Arizona (28-11, 12-6 Big 12) scored with less than two outs. The rest of the production came in the clutch, including all four runs scored in the 5th to put the Wildcats up 5-3 at the time.
White was 3 for 5 with two doubles and two RBI, raising his average to .325, while Aaron Walton and Gunner Geile each had 2-run hits during the 4-run 5th. Arizona was 7 of 16 with six RBI with two outs, this after going 6 of 12 with four RBI in that scenario in Friday’s 5-4 win.
Hunter Alberini struck out four in two scoreless innings of relief ahead of Casey Hintz, who had a 1-2-3 9th to earn the save. Hintz picked up the loss Thursday when he gave up five runs in 0.1 innings but needed only 12 pitches to close it out.
Arizona improved to 18-0 this season when scoring at least six runs, winning 24 consecutive games when plating at least six. The Wildcats are 44-6 the last two seasons when scoring six or more.
A nonconference game Wednesday at Hi Corbett Field against UT-Arlington—it’s Bark in the Park Night!—is next up for Arizona before playing next weekend at Texas Tech. The Wildcats are tied for second in the Big 12, two games behind West Virginia (33-4, 13-3).