Arizona baseball completes 2-game sweep at Creighton as pitching shines again

Arizona went to Omaha with a lot of uncertainty about its pitching. The Wildcats are coming back with a rekindled confidence in those arms, who could be the key to getting back there in June.

For the second game in a row the UA combined lights-out pitching by committee and some clutch late-inning hitting to beat Creighton, winning 3-1 on Tuesday night at Charles Schwab Field.

The Wildcats (26-12) used six pitchers, four of whom were part of the sextet that combined on a 7-hit shutout on Monday. They only allowed four hits Tuesday, while Creighton’s lone run came in the bottom of the first off a walk, sacrifice bunt, wild pitch and groundout.

All six UA pitchers contributed to a 10-strikeout performance, with Quinn Flanagan fanning all four batters he faced in the seventh and eight. Trevor Long got his fourth save, while George Arias Jr. picked up the win with two scoreless innings.

Arizona was shut out over the first six innings Monday before scoring six over the final three, and on Tuesday it couldn’t bring one home until putting up a 3-spot in the sixth. Mac Bingham led off the inning with a walk, went to third on a double from Tommy Splaine and scored on Tony Bullard’s single through the left side.

Noah Turley followed with the go-ahead RBI single, and later in the inning Bullard scored on a wild pitch.

Arizona had seven hits, two each by Bullard and Nik McClaughry. McClaughry also had three steals as the Wildcats stole a season-high four bases.

The UA is home for eight of the next nine games, starting Friday when it hosts ASU in a 3-game set at Hi Corbett Field.