Arizona faced its rival Arizona State on Tuesday night back at home in Tucson for the first time since May 2019. Fans proved their excitement to watch this showdown in person by selling out the game.
The Wildcats had a slow start allowing the Sun Devils to score both their runs in the first two innings. ASU's first run came after an error by Arizona before first baseman Jack Moss led off the second with a home run.
After that the Wildcats went on a scoring barrage that ended with 14 runs as UA scored at least two runs in each of the next five innings. The UA pitching staff eventually shut down the ASU offense as the Sun Devils never scored again after the second inning.
UA had four players with at least two hits and four players with at least two RBIs in the game.
Sophomore Nik McClaughry was the star for UA on offense as he finished the game with two hits in four at-bats to go with four RBIs and three runs.
"My main focus is to see the ball," said McClaughry, who recently came into the starting lineup at third base for injured starter Tony Bullard. "It sounds pretty simple but just locking in. And if I can see it I can put a pretty good swing on it. On offense, just try to move it to the next guy. And then on defense play all out."
Other notable players from the night were sophomore shortstop Jacob Blas, who finished with two runs and two RBIs, while junior outfielder Donta' Williams brought in three runs. Sophomore first baseman Branden Boissiere had two RBIs plus two walks.
On the defensive end, sophomore pitcher Randy Abshier earned his first win of the season after pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings and a team-high three strikeouts.
"Im really pleased with that performance tonight," said head coach Jay Johnson. "I can't tell you how big that was for our team and our pitching staff. Hopefully it's a sign of really good things to come out of him. We could really use a left-handed pitcher out of the bullpen and he has the talent to."
The wide scoring margin gave Arizona the ability to utilize a good portion of its bench to finish out the game.
UA's win Tuesday night gave the Wildcats their third win over the Sun Devils in the last week after picking up two victories in Tempe on Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats outscored ASU 31-13 in those three wins.
"Tonight I thought we were just in character," said Johnson. "I thought we managed the zone extremely well. I thought that we stayed within ourselves really well. We had a clear vision of what we wanted to do in all areas of the game and we executed that."
UA will continue Pac-12 play this weekend as Cal makes the trek to Tucson, and Abshier says because of how the Wildcats have been performing lately it will force teams to come in with a chip on their shoulder. But Arizona is ready.
"I feel like there's a big target on our back," said Abshier. "I feel like we are kind of like the rebels of the Pac-12 right now. Not many people like us. Not many people like to face us. And it's good to have that ego and that confidence especially after a big win against ASU. We're going to keep rolling through people and we're going to keep winning games."
The Wildcats three-game series against Cal is set to begin Friday with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. MST.
****
> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona baseball fans because the Wildcats Own Omaha
> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel
> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattGOAZCATS)
> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)
> LIKE us on Facebook
> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)
