TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona baseball team benefitted from sloppy play by Air Force to score seven first-inning runs, and freshman pitcher Morgan Earman threw eight strong innings on the mound as the Wildcats won the first game of a two-game midweek series by a score of 14-2 on Tuesday evening at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona (9-9) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning when it collected just one base hit. The Wildcats drew five walks, reached on an error and actually struck out four times in the initial frame which was punctuated by Scott Kingery's bases-clearing double in his second plate appearance of the inning.
Falcons' starter Jacob DeVries walked Kingery, Cody Ramer and Kevin Newman to open the game, before bouncing back with a pair of strikeouts. The left-hander nearly escaped the jam when he struck out Bobby Dalbec for the third out, but the breaking ball in the dirt skipped away and allowed Kingery to score as Dalbec safely reached first base.
DeVries (0-1) then issued back-to-back walks to Tyler Krause and Riley Moore, before another run scored when Kenny Meimerstorf reached on an error to push the lead to 4-0. As the lineup turned over to Kingery, the sophomore ripped a double to the left field corner to clear the bases.
Air Force (4-9) bounced back with a pair of runs against Earman in the second inning. Tyler Jones drew a leadoff walk and later scored on Brian Sicher's single to centerfield. A second unearned run scored when Adam Blankenship scored on a passed ball.
That was all the scoring the Falcons could muster against Earman, whose only hiccups were with two outs. The freshman right-hander did not give up a run the rest of the way and did not allow a base hit after the third inning, but he did issue four two-out walks in the game.
It was the longest career outing for Earman ( 2-1), who registered five strikeouts in eight complete innings. He scattered four total hits.
Kingery and Newman reached base five times in the game. In addition to his three-run double, Kingery scored three runs and walked three times in the contest. Newman finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a run batted in.
The Air Force bullpen used five relievers in place of DeVries, who lasted just 0.2 of inning. The Falcons staff issued a total of 13 walks and hit two Wildcats.
Tyler Parmenter tossed a scoreless ninth inning, working around a two-out walk, to close the game.
