The No. 11 Arizona baseball team cruised to a sweep-clinching win over East Tennessee State on Sunday, as the Wildcats continued their relentless offensive barrage in a 21-6 rout at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona (29-13) rapped out a season-high 27 hits on Sunday, led by four-hit performances by Johnny Field and Bobby Brown. All nine starters registered a base hit and scored at least one run, while nine had two or more hits in the game.
The Wildcats, who set a previous season high with 25 hits on Friday, hit .504 as a team and racked up 65 base hits in the series. Brown went 9 for 12 with six runs scored, nine runs batted in and three stolen bases in the series. Field went 11 for 15 with seven runs scored and seven RBIs over the three days.
East Tennessee State (19-24) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning off UA starter James Farris. Andrew Green tripled to lead off and scored on a groundout by Clinton Freeman, who had three hits and two RBIs on the day.
Arizona answered with a run in the bottom of the frame to tie the score when Field hit a leadoff double and Alex Mejia collected his first of two RBIs on the day with a single.
An inning later, the Wildcats tacked on two more runs before the Buccaneers tied the score at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the third. After UA reclaimed the lead with a two-run bottom of the third, East Tennessee State kept the game close until the sixth inning.
Holding a narrow 6-5 advantage, Arizona broke open the game with a six-run sixth to chase East Tennessee State starter Kerry Doane. The right-hander left after 5 1/3 innings and was charged with 12 runs, eight earned, on 15 hits in the loss. His record dropped to 4-3.
The Wildcats remained on the offensive against the Buccaneers’ bullpen. A three-run seventh inning was followed by a six-run eighth inning to give UA a commanding 21-5 lead.
The Buccaneers scored a run in the top of the ninth off reliever Mathew Troupe to make it 21-6.
Farris earned the win for the Wildcats and improved to 5-2 on the season. He gave up five runs on 10 hits in six innings of work. He struck out five and walked none.
Augey Bill pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Wildcats, tallying two strikeouts in the seventh and eighth frames.
