The time of year has come where games in college baseball matter more than ever as teams fight for conference titles. Traveling to Los Angeles for a key series against USC, Arizona (32-16, 13-9 Pac-12) could not get it done in game one, falling to the Trojans 6-1.

Offensively, the Wildcats could not get anything going behind their six hits, only getting one base runner across in the sixth inning thanks to a Tony Bullard sacrifice-fly that drove in Chase Davis. Aside from a pair of hits from Davis, Arizona also got hits from Tanner O’Tremba, Bullard, Garen Caulfield and Tommy Splaine.

One of the biggest issues the Wildcats faced during their game one defeat was striking out 12 times as a team and didn’t have a single player record a walk.

Despite what the stat line said, Arizona got a strong start from TJ Nichols who gave the team six solid innings while giving up four runs all earned and striking out nine to go along with three walks.

After three sharp innings to start the game, Nichols ran into trouble in the fourth and gave up two runs in the inning, then proceeded to allow a run over the course of the next two innings. His record now stands at 5-3 after taking the loss. The nine strikeouts on the night also tie a season-high for the 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher.

Nichols was relieved by George Arias Jr. who struggled in an inning of work giving up two runs on one hit. The Wildcats and head coach Chip Hale got a clean outing from pitcher Javyn Pimental who tossed a scoreless and hitless 8th inning.

The Wildcats offense couldn’t give the pitching staff and relief as saw the middle of the order go 2-for-11 as Arizona left seven runners on base.

With the loss and an Oregon State (36-9, 16-6), 5-1 victory over Oregon, the Wildcats now stand three games back behind the Beavers for the regular season Pac-12 title.

There are two games left in the series against the Trojans (23-20, 7-15 Pac-12) and now Arizona hopes to rebound in game two on Saturday with left-handed pitcher Garrett Irvin on the mound looking to improve his 2.94 ERA as first pitch for the Wildcats game against USC is at 2 p.m. (MST) on Pac-12 Arizona.

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