PULLMAN, Wash. (April 16, 2023) – Washington State dropped the series-finale 14-8 to Arizona at Bailey-Brayton Field Sunday afternoon.
Â
WSU (21-13, 7-10 Pac-12) received a four-hit game from
Jonah Advincula, two hits and two RBI from
Jacob McKeon and
Elijah Hainline homered and drove in three runs. Cougar starter
Grant Taylor worked into the sixth inning, allowed one earned run and struck out five.
Â
Arizona improved to 18-15 overall and 6-12 in conference play after erasing a 4-1 Cougar lead with seven runs in the seventh and five in the eighth.
Â
WSU won the first two games of the weekend to clinch the series over the Wildcats for the second straight season after taking two of three in Tucson last year.
Â
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the third,
Greg Fuchs worked a one-out walk and Advincula followed with an opposite-field bloop double down the left field line to put runners on second and third for McKeon who put down a squeeze bunt to score Fuchs.
Â
Arizona loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth inning but Taylor buckled down and kept the Wildcats off the board with a strikeout, popout and groundout to preserve the 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Magee bounced a two-out single up the middle and came around to score on Hainline's RBI-single into centerfield. Hainline then stole second base and scored on
Jacob Morrow's RBI-double just inside the first base bag for a 3-0 lead.
Â
Arizona hit a solo homer in the sixth and Taylor exited after a two-out walk but
Connor Wilford entered from the bullpen and ended the frame with a popout to Russell at shortstop. Hainline pushed the lead back to three runs with an opposite-field solo homer to right-centerfield in the sixth.
Â
The Wildcats erupted for seven runs on six this and a walk in the seventh to take an 8-4 lead. WSU came back with two runs in their half of the inning on a McKeon RBI-double and a Russell RBI-single but Arizona pulled away for good with a five-run eighth inning.
Â
NEXT UP
WSU heads to Spokane for a Tuesday night matchup at Gonzaga. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Â
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jonah Advincula doubled in the 1st, has reached base in 12 straight games
Jacob McKeon singled in the 5
th to extend his on-base streak to 12 games and hitting streak to 10
Kyle Russell singled in the 7th to extend his on-base streak to 13 games
Sam Brown singled in the 8
th to extend his on-base streak to 11 games
Â