Despite momentum being on their side following a series sweep last weekend, No. 11 Arizona struggled to replicate the magic in the first game of its weekend series against UCLA, losing the contest 10-2 on Friday.
The Wildcats (16-6, 5-2 Pac-12) were unable to overcome a UCLA grand slam in the sixth inning that allowed the Bruins to take a 6-0 lead and all but seal the victory.
The home run from UCLA shortstop Cody Schrier interrupted what was a relatively strong start to the night on the mound for pitcher TJ Nichols, who left the game after 5 1/3 innings and 99 pitches.
After coming in for Nichols in the sixth, relief pitcher Quinn Flanagan struggled and gave up the game-sealing grand slam that gave the Bruins their comfortable lead.
Eric Orloff came in to close out the sixth inning and was on the mound for three innings overall for the Wildcats. He ended the night striking out five of the 12 batters he faced.
“He did a great job,” UA head coach Chip Hale said of his freshman relief pitcher. “He did the same thing in New Mexico. He kind of started off slow in New Mexico and then I think he struck out three guys with the bases loaded. So he’s showing us that he can pitch in important innings. Part of the reason why we got Quinn out of there so quick was so he can come back tomorrow and Sunday. Just wanted to limit his pitch count.
“And so E got a chance to go in there and eat up some innings, and he threw a lot more pitches and got a lot more outs than we thought we were gonna get out of him.”
Hoping to help Arizona avoid being shut out for the first time in 193 consecutive games, designated hitter Tony Bullard, who has been struggling in six games since returning from an injury, hit a triple and scored the Wildcats first run of the game in the sixth inning.
Nichols wasn’t able to build off of his fantastic pitching performance last weekend as he earned his first loss of the season Friday night against the Bruins. The sophomore led the game with six strike outs but gave up five hits, three walks and surrendered five unearned runs in the loss to UCLA. Two defensive errors made by outfielder-turned-infielder Tyler Casagrande played a big role in the runs being scored.
Arizona finished the game with four errors as a team.
Offensively, catcher Daniel Susac had another strong night going 4-for-4, including a double, while current team hitting leader Tanner O’Tremba went 2-for-5 with a big RBI-triple in the seventh inning extending his hit streak to 15 games and his on-base streak to 22 games.
The Pac-12’s current home run leader, Chase Davis, went 0-for-3 but was able to on base once via a walk. In the last two games, Davis has not picked up a single hit and is 0-for-7 at the plate.
Despite the result, the Wildcats were making contact with the ball only striking out four times compared to the Bruins (14-7, 2-2) which had 10 strikeouts with hitters caught looking on seven of those strikeouts.
“Yeah, you know we struck out a lot less,” Hale said. “I felt like we had really good at-bats. You know like you said there were a lot of hard hit balls, a lot of hard outs but that’s one of the positives from tonight.”
The Wildcats have won each of their first two conference series and will now look to even the series with the second game of the three-game set taking place Saturday at 6 p.m. MST at Hi Corbett Field. Despite losing its last two games, UA has won each of its first two series in the Pac-12.
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