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baseball Edit

Wildcats' offense explodes to start the season 4-0

A solid pitching performance by ace JC Cloney the team's 6-0 victory in game one, an epic comeback from 9 runs down in game two to win 16-13, an 18-run clinic in game three to win 18-4 and a walk off 9-8 victory in game four. It all added up to the 'Cats sweeping the Colonels to open up the 2017 season.

Led by Mitch Morimoto, JJ Matijevic, Nick Quintana and Cesar Salazar, Arizona went on an offensive tear scoring 34 runs in the next 11 innings after its opener.

"I saw it coming," Matijevic said. "We have some really good hitters on this team, even the guys coming off the bench contributed today. We've put in so much work and it's finally paying off."

Matijevic is off to a hot start going 9-for-19 with five extra base hits in the series.

One of those extra base hits was a towering, two-run home run he clobbered over Hi Corbett's deep 405-foot wall in right center field during game three on Sunday.

"I went up there looking for a fastball, he (Aaron Ochsenbein) couldn't really command his off speed, so I knew that and I went up there sitting fastball and I got it on the first pitch," Matijevic said. "I just stayed nice and slow and I ended up doing what I did."

Matijevic wasn't the only Wildcat that put on an offensive clinic. Nick Quintana went 8-for-14 in the series with four doubles, and charged the 'Cats comeback in game two with a 5-for-6 performance and five RBIs. It eventually led to the freshman being named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday.

Morimoto went 7-for-16 and also crushed a home run in game three along with Matijevic.

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Jared Oliva has lived up to expectations so far as he went 8-for-19 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Sure, Arizona won't keep this pace up throughout the year, but it's certain the 'Cats depth on offense goes very deep. There is plenty of talent to juggle in the lineup, but UA coach Jay Johnson is confident his crew will handle it well.

"As long as their mind is right, then there's no difficulty in it," Johnson said. "Their job is to be prepared when their number is called upon, and our guys have done a good job of that. We work really hard on team here, placing the needs of team above their own. That's hard for 18-22 year olds to do, but we're going to keep working at that. My feeling is it will all play itself out."

Offense has come easy for Arizona so far, but starting pitching has had its highs and lows. Cloney, as expected, pitched a gem in the team’s 6-0 opener throwing seven shutout innings and only giving up one hit.

Rio Gomez lasted five innings in game three and only gave up one run, but Tylor Megill and Alfonso Rivas struggled in games two and four. Neither made it out of the second inning.

Last season, Johnson took his time to build and develop and pitching staff. This year, he says, may take even longer.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing," Johnson said. "We want to slot guys where they are going to be successful, it's day to day with 18-22 year olds. We don't want to ask them to do something more than what they are capable of. Until we find out what that is, we're going to keep it pretty fluid."

The 'Cats begin a four-game series against McNeese State Thursday night at Hi Corbett.

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