Kurt Heyer threw his fifth complete game of the season and Alex Mejia drove in two runs and executed a hidden-ball trick as the 14th-ranked Arizona baseball team came from behind to take the series opener from host California 3-1 on Friday.
Heyer improved to 9-2 on the season while racking up nine strikeouts, scattering five hits and walking just one. The lone run he allowed, which came in the first inning, was unearned and came across without a hit. In fact, Heyer carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before a one-out single snapped a string of 12 consecutive batters retired.
Mejia drove in Arizona’s first two runs of the game, the first coming on an infield single in the top of the third to tie the score and the second on a bases-loaded walk to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.
His best was yet to come. With Arizona holding a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh, two soft singles and a two-out error loaded the bases loaded for Cal. Brenden Farney slapped a grounder deep in the hole on the left side, where Mejia made a swift backhanded stop and fired across the diamond for the third out.
An inning later and trailing by two runs, the Golden Bears got a pair of leadoff singles, the second coming off the bat of Andrew Knapp to move Danny Oh to second base. Left fielder Johnny Field picked up the line-drive single and tossed it to Mejia at short. Mejia walked the ball toward Heyer and bluffed an exchange behind the mound, then assumed his normal defensive position at shortstop as Heyer, still behind the mound, awaited the next hitter. As Oh took his lead off from second, Mejia moved in to tag him out and complete a rare hidden-ball trick.
Heyer retired the next two hitters he faced and worked into the ninth inning, when Mejia made another outstanding play. Vince Bruno hit a liner that appeared destined for left-center until Mejia perfectly timed his leap and snared it for the first out.
From there, Heyer induced a groundout and struck out Darrel Mathews, who earlier broke up the no-hit bid with an infield single, to end the game.
Arizona (31-15, 14-8 Pac-12) forced California (25-20, 9-13 Pac-12) to go the bullpen early. Starter Michael Theofanopoulos lasted just 4 1/3 innings after giving up two runs on three hits and three walks.
Trailing by a run, the Wildcats tied the score in the top of the third. With runners on the corners and two down, Mejia hit an infield single deep in the hole on the left side to drive in Trent Gilbert and make it 1-1.
Theofanopoulos (4-5) ran into trouble in the top of the fifth. For the second time in the game, Gilbert drew a leadoff walk and was bunted to second by Brandon Dixon. Joey Rickard followed with a walk that ended Theofanopoulos’ outing.
Michael Lowden took over and issued consecutive walks to Field and Mejia, the second of which forced in the go-ahead run and prompted another pitching change.
Chris Muse-Fisher entered to face Robert Refsnyder with one down and the bases loaded, and the left-hander was able to induce an inning-ending double play to escape the jam and keep UA’s lead at 2-1.
In the top of the eighth, Refsnyder blasted a two-out solo home run onto the roof of the recreation building deep over the left-field wall. It was his team-leading fifth homer of the season.
The Golden Bears' lone run of the game was an unearned run in the bottom of the first. Oh was hit by a pitch to lead off, then stole second base one out later. Catcher Riley Moore’s throw to second was errant and allowed Oh to advance to third, and Mitch Delfino followed with a sacrifice fly to right field.
