Chase Davis called game.
On a thrilling night that saw Arizona and rival Arizona State tied up at six after nine innings, Davis hit his 12th home run of the year and first career walk-off homer in stylish fashion. His 414-foot shot through the wind landed on top of the Terry Francona Hitting Center to give the Wildcats the 7-6 victory in the 10th inning.
In a game where the emotions were high, Davis delivered a perfect ending for UA on the first night of its weekend series against ASU.
“I think so far it is,” Davis said postgame about his walk-off hit being his best home run. “But I don’t settle. I just want to keep on going, but I think it feels really good to be able to do that. I take pride in that, but I’ll come out ready to go tomorrow.”
Davis first career walk-off home run, which was Arizona’s first since Cal Stevenson hit one in 2017, came with no different approach than what he would have had during any other at-bat.
“I think it’s just simplifying everything,” Davis said. “Because after Dan [Susac] just got out, I was like ‘I gotta get on base. It’s extra innings and I gotta help the team win.’ You know the first hack I took was a swing I was just trying to put the ball in play, but the one I hit right there I was really just trying to hit a line drive.
“So I think just getting on base and helping the team win and just give us the best chance possible.”
Davis’ walk-off was set up by some late offense from Arizona (27-12, 12-7 Pac-12).
After ASU scored in the eighth inning to make it a 6-4 game, the Wildcats scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie it back up when Davis drew a walk followed by a triple from Mac Bingham that put the game back within one run.
After Bingham got on base, Tommy Splaine tied it up with a base hit that allowed Bingham to score.
In terms of pitching, the Wildcats had some ups and downs throughout the game.
TJ Nichols got the ball for Arizona and did not give up a run in his first three innings of work. However, he struggled with command in his last couple innings and gave up three runs during that stretch. His night came to a close after 4 2/3 innings having allowed seven hits, four walks and three earned runs to go with four strikeouts.
“Some of it I think is a little bit of he didn’t get to throw his side this week,” head coach Chip Hale said about Nichols’ performance that ended with a no decision. “We backed him off of that because he had some soreness, but he felt good. That was the good thing, he felt good. It’s the same story. It’s the walks, it’s the wild pitches, and it’s letting runners advance. Even two-out walks, those really hurt us. We have to clean that stuff up.”
Right-handed reliever Trevor Long pitched two scoreless innings and stranded a pair of Sun Devil runners in scoring position in both innings helping him earn the win and improve his record to 3-0.
“It was huge, it was huge and again I don’t think he had his best stuff tonight,” Hale said. “I mean they hit a lot of balls hard and did a good job. They did a really good job, but he go the outs when we needed them. We had some good defense behind him, but hopefully he’ll be okay for tomorrow and Sunday. It’s a rivalry weekend, so guys gotta be ready.”
The second game of Arizona’s three-game series against the Sun Devils (19-20, 8-8) is set for a 5 p.m. MST first pitch at Hi Corbett Field. Right-hander Chandler Murphy (1-1, 9.00 ERA) is expected to start for the Wildcats.
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