University of Washington
Arizona
UW Drops Pac-10 Opener To Arizona, 13-6
March 24, 2005 | Baseball
March 24, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. - No. 13 Arizona battled back from an early deficit and cruised to a 13- 6 win over the Washington baseball team Thursday night at Kindall Field in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
Arizona ace John Meloan (5-0) struck out 12 Huskies in his six innings to pick up the win for the Wildcats (17-9 overall, 1-0 in Pac-10 play). Meloan allowed four runs on six hits.
UW sophomore Tim Lincecum (4-3) had his four-game win streak snapped in the loss. He allowed eight runs (six earned) on seven hits over five and one-third innings. The Huskies dropped to 13-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Washington jumped to a quick lead with two in the first. After Taylor Johnson doubled to lead off, Brent Lillibridge followed with a bloop double to right to drive in Johnson. After two outs were recorded, third baseman Nick Batkoski singled to send Lillibridge home, giving the UW a 2-0 edge.
In the bottom of the first, Arizona had two runners aboard when Lincecum unleashed an errant pickoff attempt that allowed Jeff Van Houten to score from second base, cutting the UW lead to 2-1. In the second, Arizona got a pair of singles to put runners at the corners before Lincecum was called for a balk, allowing Chris Frey to score the tying run.
In the third, Washington went back on top. Lillibridge singled, stole second and scored on a single from Kyle Larsen to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead. in the fifth, Lillibridge walked, stole second and scored on a double from Zach Clem.
Arizona took its first lead of the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brad Boyer led off with a triple and, after a strikeout, scored when Trevor Crowe chopped a double down the third-base line. Van Houten followed with a triple to tie the game and then scored on a Jordan Brown groundout to put the Wildcats on top, 5-4.
Arizona blew the game open in the sixth, scoring six runs off of three UW pitchers. Skyline High product Derek Decater belted a pinch-hit single to drive in the first run of the inning and chase Lincecum from the game. With David Dowling in to pitch, Trevor Crowe reached on a bad-hop single over Lillibridge's head at short to drive in two more.
The Cats would go onto score two more in the sixth as well as two in the eighth to cruise to the win.
The UW got two hits each from Lillibridge, Clem and Larsen. Frey led Arizona with three hits, three runs and two RBI in four at bats.
The Huskies and Wildcats continue the three-game series Friday with another 6:00 p.m. PST game. Sunday's game time has been moved forward one hour and will now get underway at 11:00 a.m. PST. Both games will air live on KKNW AM-1150.
LINESCORE Pac-10 Conference #13 Arizona 13, Washington 6 Washington 201 010 200 -- 6 9 3 Arizona 110 036 02X -- 13 12 1 Tim Lincecum, David Dowling (6), Jordan Ponzoha (6), Brandon McKerney (7) and Matt Lane. John Meloan, Sean Jarrett (7), Eric Berger (7) and Nick Hundley. W - Meloan (5-0). L - Lincecum (4-3). 2B - UW, Taylor Johnson, Brent Lillibridge, Kyle Larsen, Lane; UA, Trevor Crowe, Hundley. 3B - UA, Brad Boyer, Jeff Van Houten. HR - UA, Hundley (6). T - 3:34. A - 661.
