Arizona baseball sweeps Cal, win streak at 9

It was Bark in the Park at Hi Corbett Field on Sunday afternoon, which meant all the good boys and girls got to see the only Pac-12 team to sweep its first conference series of the season.

Arizona cranked out seven extra-base hits, including another home run from first baseman Kiko Romero, in a 10-5 win over Cal for its ninth consecutive victory. It was the first Pac-12 sweep for the Wildcats (12-3) since last March, against eventual league champ Stanford, and their first to open conference play since 2007.

Like the previous two games against the Golden Bears, the UA trailed in the middle innings only to run away with the victory. The Wildcats were down 3-1 in the fourth due to a pair of Cal home runs, but Romero began the comeback with a solo homer—his third of the series and fifth in the last six games—in the bottom of the fourth.

Romero, who also had a sacrifice fly and scored twice, was 9 of 11 with three homers, nine RBI and seven runs scored in the series. He was 11 for 17 for the week, including Tuesday’s 12-10 win at Grand Canyon, and should be in line to win Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.

Arizona took the lead for good in the fifth on RBI doubles from Mac Bingham and Nik McClaughry, then scored three times in the sixth, twice in the seventh and once in the eighth.

Bingham was 3 for 5 with three RBI from the leadoff spot and nine different Wildcats had at least one hit.

Right-hander Aiden May improved to 2-0 with six solid innings, allowing three runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.

Arizona is off until Friday when it faces No. 12 UCLA (12-3, 2-1) in Los Angeles for a 3-game series. The Wildcats were scheduled to play a single game at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday but that contest has been postponed due to expected rain.

The UA’s 12-3 record is its best after 15 games since 2017, and it was the only Pac-12 team to sweep on the opening weekend. Preseason favorite Stanford lost two of three at USC while UCLA took two of three at Oregon, Washington State won two of three at Oregon State and Washington took two of three at home against Utah. ASU played a nonconference series, sweeping UC Davis at home.