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After a pitchers' duel on Friday, Saturday was pretty much the exact opposite. The Wildcats (25-13, 9-8 PAC-12) played small ball all game, but a big fly from Brandon Dixon in the ninth gave them the 10-9 victory over Stanford (21-12, 8-6 PAC-12).
Both starting pitchers struggled early and often. Stanford's Dean McArdle lasted just 3 2/3 innings after giving up 5 runs, all of them earned. It didn't get any better from there for the Cardinal as the first two relievers (Marcus Brakeman and Logan James) gave up four more earned runs in the next 2/3 of an inning. Stanford also had four wild pitches, and hit Joseph Maggi twice.
Arizona's James Farris did not fare much better, giving up 8 runs (7 earned) in his 6 1/3 innings of work. Augey Bill registered another scoreless 1/3 of an inning, just like Friday, before giving way to Mathew Troupe.
Troupe gave up a run in the 8th to officially blow the save as Stanford tied the game at 9. But then Brandon Dixon saved the day with a solo home run in the ninth to put Arizona up 10-9.
Troupe (W, 3-0) stayed on in the ninth to try and close it out again. With one out, he walked Austin Slater and Brandon Whiting, but managed to strike out Friday's hero Alex Blandino. Zach Hoffpauir, who does not have a hit this season, came up with two outs, and grounded out to who else but Brandon Dixon to seal the Wildcat victory.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
Arizona | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 2 | |
Stanford | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 1 |
Dixon, Johnny Field, and Kevin Newman each had two-RBI games. Kevin Newman also received some other good news this weekend as he was named as a quarter-finalist for the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award.
Arizona and Stanford meet again on Sunday as Tyler Crawford takes the mound for the Wildcats against Stanford's John Hochstatter.
Side note: Two more errors for the Wildcats today....frustrating.