HOUSTON, Texas — The Arizona Wildcats (6-3) used two dominant performances on the mound and a ninth-inning rally to defeat the No. 1 Texas A&M Aggies (5-3) on Friday night at the Astros Foundation College Classic.
Wildcats starting pitcher
Collin McKinney (4.0 IP) and right-handed reliever
Casey Hintz (5.0 IP) combined on a five-hit, two-run gem in which they struck out 13 Aggie batters. Hintz earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the year following his remarkable relief effort.
Facing a 2-0 deficit, center fielder
Aaron Walton got the Cats on the board with a solo home run in the sixth inning. His line drive homer cleared the Crawford Boxes in left field at Daikin Park and brought Arizona within a run.
Arizona's decisive rally came in the top of the ninth - down to their final three outs, the Wildcats put together a two-run frame to grab the lead.Â
Designated hitter
Maddox Mihalakis opened the ninth inning with a double off the wall in left field, moved to third on a one-out single from
Tommy Splaine, and came across to tie the game on an infield single legged out by left fielder
Easton Breyfogle.
Following a fielder's choice that pushed Splaine to third base, right fielder
Brendan Summerhill roped a line drive at the Texas A&M first baseman and sprinted out the go-ahead infield single.
Hintz remained in the game for the final three outs in the bottom of the ninth. A routine fly ball to right and a fielding error that turned into a 9-5 putout at third base secured the first two outs before a single to right field put the tying runner on base. Hintz proceeded to induce a swinging strikeout from Texas A&M's Jace LaViolette, one of the top prospects in the country, to slam the door shut and secure Arizona's win.
Arizona WildBATS
- RF Brendan Summerhill: 3-for-5, RBI
- CF Aaron Walton: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI, BB
- DH Maddox Mihalakis: 1-for-3, R, 2B, BB
- 1B/C Tommy Splaine: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB
Bullpen Bullies
Number of the Night
- Friday's win marked the first time Arizona beat the No. 1 ranked team in the nation since April 20, 2010 when the Wildcats earned a 4-2 road win at ASU.
Photo of the Night
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Next Up
Arizona faces another ranked SEC opponent, No. 18 Mississippi State, on Saturday afternoon at Daikin Park. The Wildcats and Bulldogs square off at 2:05 p.m. MST.
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