Trying to get back in the saddle again folks. I have been hit with an unbelievable amount of work at the office and out of town travel to accompany it.  Thanks to Adam for putting up the important links when needed [Parrom].  We'll try and keep more updated content on the site as we trudge through this "offseason" of sorts and into the summer.

The Cats, coming off of a sweep of Cal this past weekend, fell to  No. 6 Cal State Fullerton yesterday by a score of 5-2.  The Cats are now 22-22 on the season.  The first inning looked promising for the Cats as they scored a run and loaded the bases with no outs.  Unfortunately, Kevin Rath of Fullerton had other ideas. After a visit by his coach, Rath retired the next three Wildcats and settled in. Brad Glenn and Steve Selsky had the 2 RBI's on the night. Preston Guilmet came in the game in relief but was unable to hold off Fullerton as they raced away with the game.

Next up: Cal State Fullerton Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Goodwin Field.

Box Score

Finally. Arizona beat Stanford 11-1 on Friday afternoon while getting a dominating performance from Preston Guilmet and some much needed offensive production early. Preston pitched 7 complete innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 earned run, and struck out 3.

Brad Glenn provided the offensive support going 3-5 with 3 Runs and 3 RBI's. Dwight Childs was also 2-3 with 3 Runs and 3 RBI's.  Let's hope the Cats can continue their ways today against Stanford.

Box Score

The Cats will travel to Palo Alto this weekend to take on the Cardinal from Stanford.  The game will be televised on CBS College Sports beginning at 5:00 p.m. MST. The Wildcats (17-19, 3-12) will face a good Stanford team who is (17-16, 7-8).  Preston Guilmet will get the nod on Friday, facing Jordan Pries from Stanford. The Cats were swept by Washington State last week and then played one game against Gonzaga and won 8-7.

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Props to coach Lopez for putting in starter Joe Allison to take on the Cougars on Saturday. Our pitchers need a serious wake up call and this kind of movement was needed.  Unfortunately, Allison gave up three solo home runs, back to back to back. Uh oh. Oh well, I'd rather coach try to mix it up than let Bandilla or Veltmann come in and do their usual.  Unfortunately, the Cats were never able to overcome the first inning pounding, ultimately falling 5-4.

Jett Bandy came through again, going 1-3 and knocking in his 3rd RBI in 2 days. Bobby Coyle was 2-5 with an RBI and a run. Hunter Pace was 0-3, bringing his series total to 0-6 against the Cougars.  The Wildcats will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow by putting Kyle Simon on the mound.

Next Up: Arizona vs. Washington State
Sunday, April 19
Noon(1290 A.M.)

Box Score

Arizona  blew a 4-2 lead in the 7th inning to fall to the Cougars of Washington State on Friday 5-4.  Arizona, (16-17, 3-10 in Pac-10), was unable to hold on after Preston Guilmet provided six strong innings. In the 7th is where he ran into trouble. Preston had a triple hit off of him, followed by a strikeout, and then a squeeze bunt that went for a single as  well.  Preston was also the victim of outfielder Hunter Pace's misplay on a deep fly ball which went for a triple and another RBI. Arizona also had 2 errors in the game. (Surprise, Surprise)

The hitting was OK. Jett Bandy made an appearance in the lineup and was 3-4 with 2 runs  and 2 RBI's. After giving up the 7th inning rally, the Cats were unable to come up with another run. Our 1-4 hitters were a combined 0-13 in the game.  Arizona played a great game against a good Cougar team and came up short because coach didn't pull Preston in time.

Honestly, I am not sure if Lopez knew what to think about our starting pitcher going more than 2 innings. He probably thought he could ride Preston the whole game.  Our middle relievers and Stoffel have been pretty dang good this year considering they have had to work deep into games because of the lack of quality starts from our pitching.  Know your strengths coach. You've got Stoffel to lock down the last two innings, which means that we only needed 1 inning from any combination of our 6 middle relievers.  On to Saturday's game......

Box Score

I hope everyone had a great Easter and is excited about our new recruits for the Basketball team.  Unfortunately, the Cats baseball team dropped another game on Saturday 8-3, losing to the Beavers of Oregon State. Donn Roach was roughed up for four runs in the second inning and the Beavers didn't need any more than that to take the win.  Arizona threatened with three runs in the bottom of the second, but that was all they could come up for the rest of the game. Donn Roach gave up 5 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 2.1 innings. Daniel Workman, Cory Burns, and Bryce Bandilla came in to finish out the rest of the game.  Dwight Childs provided 2 RBI''s on 1-4 hitting. The Cats are now (14-16, 3-9).

Pitching, or lack thereof, continues to dominate the story lines of the Cats season.  Preston Guilmet seems to be the only starter who can escape even the first three frames without getting roughed up. Donn Roach's ERA has ballooned to 8.68 for the season.  At this point in the season, it's time to start grooming some other guys.  Donn Roach needs to be immediately removed from the starting rotation as well as Matt Veltmann.  Maybe Cody Lewis or Cory Burns should get a chance to start? Change is in order.

Box Score

Overall Stats

Arizona picked up its first win of the season over a ranked opponent, beating the Beavers from Oregon State by a score of 7-6 on Friday night at Jerry Kindall Field. The Cats fell to the Beavers on Thursday by a score of 9-5.  In the first game, Preston Guilment pitched another solid game going 7 innings, giving up 4 runs, only 2 earned and giving his bullpen a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning. Unfortunately, Arizona's closer, Jason Stoffel was unable to hold the lead and gave up 4 runs on 5 hits allowing Oregon State to take an 8-5 lead. The Cats were unable to hmount a comeback and fell to (13-15, 2-8) on the season.

(Stoffel was unable to hold on Friday night)

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Well, well, well. What do you know? Another game. Another, yes another pitcher who can't get 1 out. Matt Veltmann was absolutely lit up on Saturday giving up 9 runs, 6 earned on 5 hits and 1 walk.  This is astonishing. I can't even fathom coming to the University of Arizona, playing baseball, being a starting pitcher, and not being able to sac up and get one out. Oh wait, there are more than one of these guys on our roster. Remember this? Bryce Bandilla and Matt Veltmann should room together. Disgusting.

On the positive side of this debacle in Tucson last night was the drive of the offense which rallied for 14 runs on 22 hits and almost came from behind to beat the Trojans last night.  Hunter Pace hit his first home run of his career and made it count by doing it with the bases loaded. The Cats cut the lead to 13-11 in the fifth inning but couldn't complete the comeback.  The Cats, once again, recorded 2 errors in the first inning, which didn't help Veltmann out too much at all. Only 3 runs on Veltmann were earned. Dwight Childs had a great game with 4 hits and 3 RBI's, Pace had 5 RBI's and Dillon Baird was his usual self, knocking in 3 runs on the night. 

F-U-N-G-O - All week, every week. No more batting practice.

Box Score

Cumulative Stats

Next Game: Sunday, April 5 – Noon              
Gametracker 
Radio – 1290 A.M., 990 A.M.