TUCSON, Ariz. – Washington State dropped the opening game of a Pac-12 Conference series at the University of Arizona 8-0 Friday evening.
The Cougars received two hits from redshirt-junior Trek Stemp and a strong start from junior Ian Hamilton went 5.1 innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits. The Wildcats recorded 11 hits and took advantage of two Cougar errors to take the opening game of the three-game series.
Washington State had a scoring chance in the first inning as Stemp led off the game with an infield single and the next two batters walked to the load the bases with nobody out. Arizona starting pitcher Nathan Bannister came up with some clutch pitches to get a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to end the Cougar threat. WSU stranded another runner on third in the third inning.
Hamilton worked around a couple singles to keep Arizona off the board in the first four innings before the Wildcats brought home a run with an RBI groundout in the fifth. UA added two runs in the sixth after chasing Hamilton, scoring on a double and a squeeze for a 3-0 lead. The Wildcats pushed one more across in the seventh with a sacrifice fly before adding four more in the eighth.
Bannister picked up the win for Arizona after throwing eight shutout innings, allowing three hits, three walks and striking out seven.
GAME NOTES…Stemp recorded his team-leading 11th multiple-hit game of the season…the series continues Saturday at 6 p.m.
