TUCSON, Ariz. – Washington rallied in the late innings Friday night against Arizona at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, but the Huskies came up short and dropped the first game of the series 8-6.
The Huskies (24-22, 9-16 Pac-12) scored a run in the seventh and three in the eighth, but ultimately could not claw back from an 8-2 deficit against the Wildcats (28-18, 12-13).
Arizona catcher Riley Moore went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs to lead the Wildcats' 13-hit attack.
The Huskies were put behind the eight-ball right away as Arizona scored three times in the first inning, two runs of which were unearned off UW starter Noah Bremer. No. 2 hitter Kevin Newman got things started with an infield single, stole second and came around to score on a base hit by Moore.
The Pac-12's leading home run hitter Bobby Dalbec reached on an error, and after JJ Matijevic was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Tyler Krause singled home Moore. Jared Oliva capped the inning and made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.
The Wildcats tagged on another run in the second on Moore's second RBI single of the game to make it 4-0.
That would be all the scoring Arizona would get off Bremer. The freshman from Berkley, Calif. lasted four innings, giving up four runs – two earned – on seven hits. He took his third loss against five wins on the season.
The Huskies clawed back into the game in the fourth scoring twice to cut the Wildcats' lead in half, 4-2. Back-to-back doubles by Austin Rei and Alex Schmidt made it 4-1, and Brendan Berry followed with a RBI single.
Arizona extended its lead in the fifth to 5-2 on back-to-back doubles by Moore and Matijevic, and an inning later broke the game open with three runs in the sixth. Newman, Moore and Dalbec each had RBI hits to make the score 8-2.
The Huskies did not go away easily. They got a run back in the seventh on a RBI single by Levi Jordan. Chris Baker reached on a one-out double and Jordan drove him in with two outs on a seeing-eye single.
Washington scored three times in the eighth to cut Arizona's lead to two runs. A fielding error and throwing error by Newman on the same play proved costly for the Wildcats, allowing the Rei to score. After Josh Cushing singled home another run, Baker came up representing the tying run. He drove in Berry from third on a ground out, but ultimately that was the last run the Huskies would score.
Tyger Talley got the final out of the eighth and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his second save of the season.
Arizona starter Cody Hamlin scattered nine hit over 7 1/3 innings to pick up his sixth win of the year.
Schmidt was the only Husky with multiple hits, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored and a RBI. The Huskies had nine hits total.
The Huskies and the Wildcats play game two of the series Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.
Arizona 8, Washington 6
WASH 000 200 130 –- 6 9 1
ARIZ 310 013 00x –- 8 13 2
LOB: UW 5, AZ 10. Noah Bremer, Alex Nesbitt (5), Alex Hardy (6), Brandon Choate (8) and Austin Rei; Cody Hamlin, Robby Medel (8), Tyger Talley (8) and Riley Moore. W – Cody Hamlin (6-3). L – Bremer (5-3). Sv – Talley (2). HR – none. 3B – none. 2B – UW, Austin Rei, Alex Schmidt, Chris Baker; AZ, Riley Moore, JJ Matijevic, Kevin Newman, Bobby Dalbec. Time – 3:07. Attendance – 3,491.
