Johnny Field went 4 for 5 with a home run and three runs scored, Tyler Crawford pitched four scoreless innings of relief and the No. 14 Arizona baseball team completed a three-game sweep of California with a 7-4 victory on Sunday.
Arizona (33-15, 16-8 Pac-12) won its fifth Pac-12 road series of the season and completed its second conference sweep. The Wildcats remain tied in the loss column with first-place Oregon, which holds the overall lead by percentage points.
Crawford was masterful in relief, settling down what had been a walk-filled game for both clubs. Arizona starter James Farris walked three and lasted just three-plus innings before turning the game over to Tyler Hale. Hale (2-0) pitched two-plus innings and did not allow a hit, but he issued four walks before being replaced by Crawford with a runner on base and no outs in the bottom of the sixth.
Entering with a 6-4 lead, Crawford quickly worked out of the potential jam with a flyout and a groundball double play. He went on to allow just one hit in four innings of relief with a strikeout and no walks. He earned his first collegiate save.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the first inning. Field hit a one-out single and Alex Mejia drew a four-pitch walk, and Robert Refsnyder followed with a run-scoring single that advanced Mejia to third.
With Seth Mejias-Brean at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Mejia to score, and an error moved Refsnyder all the way to third base. Mejias-Brean then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in the third run.
California (25-22, 9-15 Pac-12) collected three straight singles to open the bottom of the second, the third driving in a run off the bat of Chadd Krist. One out later, Brenden Farney roped a two-run double to right-center to tie the score at 3-3.
Arizona regained the lead on the benefit of two errors in the top of the third. Refsnyder reached on a throwing error by Farney, then advanced all the way to third on an errant pickoff throw by Jones. Bobby Brown followed with an RBI on a high-chop single down the first-base line.
The Wildcats added another run in the top of the fourth with a two-out rally. Mejia singled to right, moved to second on a wild pitch and Refsnyder was intentionally walked. Mejias-Brean then singled up the middle to plate Mejia for a 5-3 lead.
California got a run back in the bottom of the fourth in unusual fashion. Farris walked Farney to lead off the inning and was replaced by Hale, who walked Mike Reuvekamp. Farney was then caught stealing, while Reuvekamp moved up to second and eventually third on a wild pitch. An RBI groundout by Darrel Mathews scored Reuvekamp.
Arizona added another run in the top of the sixth. Field doubled down the left-field line to lead off and was bunted to third by Mejia, and Refsnyder then drove in Field with a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 6-4.
In the eighth inning, Field blasted a solo home run that landed on top of the recreation building beyond the left-field wall to extend the Wildcats' lead to 7-4. The dinger was his second of the season and marked the fifth straight game in which a UA player has homered.
California starter Justin Jones surrendered five runs, three earned, on six hits while walking four and striking out three. He suffered the loss and dropped to 4-7 on the season.
