Arizona Baseball: Wildcats win tight one over San Francisco Dons

San Francisco became the first opponent to hit more than one home run in a game at Hi Corbett against the Wildcats, but Trent Gilbert hit a 2-RBI double in the 5th which put Arizona in front for good, winning 6-4.

Konner Wade (2-0, 4.50 ERA) struggled a bit early on in the game, as USF (4-6) batters Ryan Matranga and Bradley Zimmer each connected with a Wade fastball to send it over the fence.

"We weren't doing a good job of calling his game" said head coach Andy Lopez. "I'll take full responsibility for that. We were sitting on pitches to often, we were sitting on location, we weren't calling a good game for him in terms of mixing."

Arizona's offense picked up Wade with some timely hitting though, going 6-for-11 with 2 out, and 8-for-20 with runners on base.

Trent Gilbert had the big hit of the night in the 5th inning when he roped a double to right to drive in Brandon Dixon and Riley Moore. That double put Arizona (9-2) up 5 to 4, which would be enough for Konner Wade and company.

"I'm just trying to get a good pitch to hit, put something in the gaps, hopefully score the guy on first too, and it worked out," said Gilbert. "I was looking fastball, something I could drive, something middle-in, and I got it."

Augey Bill and Mathew Troupe (S, 4) kept the Dons from scoring again the final two innings.

Hitting in front of Gilbert, Brandon Dixon went 4-for-4 on the night, improving his season average to .525.

"Let's me hit in good situations with runners on...I get some good pitches to hit," said Gilbert.

This is the second consecutive Friday night that Arizona's been in a tight game.

"We're growing up a little bit which is nice," said Andy Lopez. "I like 'em....they're good for you."

"My wife may not want to hear this, but honestly, I would like one-run games for the next three weeks. It shows you have to play defense, it shows you have to pitch well in situations, you have to do some things. All that we're doing right now is trying to get ready for the Pac-12 play. More than anything, I want to make sure we're old and tough and seasoned even though we're freshmen."

Full post game quotes:

Head Coach Andy Lopez

Upcoming schedule:

Saturday, March 2nd vs. San Francisco 2PM

Sunday, March 3rd vs. San Francisco Noon

Tuesday, March 5th vs. Texas Tech 6PM

Wednesday, March 6th vs. Texas Tech 1PM