University of Washington
Arizona
Davis Breaks Lincecum Record In 9-4 Win Over Arizona
May 10, 2015 | Baseball
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Huskies pounded out 13 hits Saturday night at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz. to support starter Tyler Davis as he pitched Washington to an 9-4 win over Arizona and passed Tim Lincecum for most career innings pitched in the UW record books.
Eight of nine Huskies had hits as UW (25-22, 10-16 Pac-12) led 5-0 after two innings and never looked back to even the three-game series against the Wildcats (28-19, 12-14).
“Tonight we found a way to get some two out hits and drive in some runs early,” Husky Coach Lindsay Meggs said. “A 5-0 lead with our guy on the hill, you feel pretty good in the dugout.”
Davis entered the night four innings shy of Lincecum's record of 342.0 innings pitched. He went 6 2/3 innings to take his spot atop the Husky record books with 344.2 innings. Davis also earned his 22nd career win to move into a tie for fourth all-time on the UW wins list and made his 74th appearance, moving to fourth most among UW pitchers.
“It means a lot to me,” Davis said of breaking Lincecum's record. “I'm the guy who is overlooked a lot. I'm smaller than a lot of people and I don't throw very hard.
“It means a lot to me to prove to myself and a lot of other people that I'm a pretty good pitcher.”
Washington jumped on Arizona starter Nathan Bannister for the 1-0 lead in the first. Braden Bishop led the game off with his first of three hits on the night, was balked to second and sacrificed to third by Jack Meggs. Alex Schmidt drove Bishop in on a sacrifice fly to collect his 21st RBI of the season.
They added four more runs in the second to take the 5-0 lead. Levi Jordan drove in the first run on a bunt base hit with Josh Cushing, who led off the inning with a walk, running on the pitch from third. Bishop followed with his second hit of the game, this one driving in Nyles Nygaard from second. With two outs, Austin Rei drove a double into the left-center gap that scored both Jordan and Bishop.
Arizona got two runs back in the bottom of the second after Davis was uncharacteristically wild. The senior from Mountain View, Calif. retired the first two batters with relative ease, but he walked the next two hitters on a combined nine pitches. No. 8 hitter Zach Gibbons made Davis pay with a two-run double that missed being a home run by a foot.
Washington tacked on an unearned run in the sixth to give Davis a four-run cushion. Chris Baker led off the inning with a single and advanced to second when Jared Oliva bobbled the ball in the outfield. Nygaard hit an infield single to move Baker up to third and Jordan drove him in on a high chopper to third.
Arizona got right back into the game in the bottom half of the sixth, scoring two on an infield hit compounded by an error. With the bases loaded, Scott Kingery, the Pac-12's leading hitter who did not start due to a foot injury, came in to pinch hit. He hit a ball back the mound that went untouched by Davis for an infield single, scoring one run. When Baker collided with Jordan at second base trying to pick up the ball, the ball squirted into the outfield and another run scored to make it 6-4.
The Huskies went back ahead by four runs in the seventh, scoring twice to take an 8-4 lead. Branden Berry followed a Schmidt double with a RBI single, and with the bases loaded and one out, Berry scored on a sacrifice fly by Nygaard.
Ahead 8-4 and with 104 pitches under his belt, Davis got the first two outs of the seventh before handing the ball over to the bullpen. He allowed six hits, walked three and struck out six. Only three of the four runs he allowed were earned.
Troy Rallings got the final out of the seventh inning and pitched the final two innings to pick up his third save of the season.
The Huskies tacked on a final run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Jordan, his third RBI of the game.
Bishop and Nygaard both had three hits to lead the team. Rei was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.
The Huskies and the Wildcats wrap up the series Sunday at 6:00 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.
Washington 9, Arizona 4
WASH 140 001 201 –- 9 13 2
ARIZ 020 002 000 –- 4 8 2
LOB: UW 10, AZ 6. Tyler Davis, Brandon Choate (7), Troy Rallings (7) and Austin Rei; Nathan Bannister, Robby Medel (3), Matt Hartman (9) and Riley Moore. W – Davis (7-5). L – Bannister (6-4). Sv – Rallings (3). HR – none. 3B – none. 2B – UW, Austin Rei, Braden Bishop, Alex Schmidt; AZ, Zach Gibbons, JJ Matijevic, Kevin Newman. Time – 3:15. Attendance – 2,858.
