(Tucson, AZ) On a night when all the hype around Arizona Athletics centered on the #13 Arizona Women’s Basketball team taking on #4 Stanford at McKale 2.8 miles down the road. A crowd of 2,215 fans quietly filed into Hi Corbett to watch Game 2 between the 5-3 Arizona Wildcats and the 6-3 Central Michigan Chippewas.
Wednesday’s Game 1 ended in an extra inning showdown going ten innings before the Wildcats fell to the Chippewas 4-2.
Good pitching by starters Garrett Irvin for Arizona and Jordan Patty for Central Michigan and strong defense by both teams ruled the first 3 innings.
At the top of the 4th inning Central Michigan’s Zach Heeke hit a single up the middle. After Zavier Warren flied out to right and Zach Gilles struck out swinging, Griffin Lockwood-Powell stepped up to the plate and singled to center moving Heeke over to third base. Chase Rollin hit a ground ball down the 3rd base line that was grabbed by Arizona 3rd baseman Tony Bullard who slung a monster throw to first, but the runner beat the throw by a millisecond and was called safe. This allowed Heeke to crossed home plate putting the Chippewas up 1-0.
In the bottom of the 4th the Wildcats evened things up. Arizona’s Matthew Dyer walked, Jacob Blas singled through left and then advanced to second on the throw moving Dyer to third. Branden Boissiere flied out to center allowing Dryer to cross home plate. Tie game, Arizona 1- Central Michigan 1.
In the 5th inning Arizona appeared to get some momentum offensively when Mac Bingham bunted for a single and then advanced to second base on a throwing error by the Chippewas pitcher Patty. Donta Williams grounded out to third base advancing Bingham to third. Patty then walked Austin Wells putting runners on first and third with two out. Central Michigan’s pitching coach called a huddle on the pitching mound to try to center his pitcher. It worked. Matthew Dyer flied out to center and the Wildcats stranded two. Game remained a 1-1 tie moving into the 6th inning.
After a pitching change by the Chippewas in the 6th, Arizona plated two runs after a single by Blas, a single by Boissiere, a sacrifice fly to center by Bullard which plated Blas, a sacrifice bunt by Bingham and a single by Donta Williams that brought Boissiere home. The Wildcats take a 3-1 lead into the 7th inning.
In the top of the 7th inning Vince Vannelle entered the game to relieve starting pitcher Garrett Irvin. Griffin Lockwood-Powell immediately hit a double down the right field line and Chase Rollins followed up with a single through the left side. With runners at first and third with no outs Vannelle was in a precarious situation. The pressure didn’t get to Vannelle and he was able to get the next three batters out to maintain a 3-1 lead headed into the 8th.
Arizona added two more runs in the 8th inning when Jacob Blas walked, Branden Boissiere singled and advanced to second on the throw which moved Blas to third. Enter Tony Bullard who rifled a single through the right side scoring Boissiere and Blas stretching the Wildcats lead to 5-1.
Vannelle hit Central Michigan’s Griffin Lockwood-Powell with a pitch giving him a free pass to first base to start the 9th inning. Chase Rollins stepped up to bat hoping to start a rally for the Chippewas. Vannelle got Rollins to pop out and the Arizona defense stepped up pulling a sweet 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
Final score: Arizona 5 – Central Michigan 1.
Winning pitcher – Garrett Irvin – Vince Vannelle is credited with the save.
Next up for the Wildcats: Rhode Island – 6pm Saturday, February 29, 2020 at Hi Corbett
By the Numbers:
The game lasted a fan friendly 3 hours 15 min
Arizona pitcher Garrett Irvin racked up his 5th pick off of the season and notched win number 3
The Wildcats have struck out 10 or more batters in every game played so far this season
Arizona only won 1 game all of last season when scoring 5 or fewer points. They’ve already double that total in 9 games this season.
Total pitches: Arizona 150 – Central Michigan 167 – Central Michigan’s Patty threw 101 pitches before being relieved.
Strikes thrown: Arizona 97 – Central Michigan 96
Overall hitting: Arizona .286 (8-28) Central Michigan .167 (5-30)
Arizona’s pitchers allowed 1 ER
The bottom four of the lineup for Arizona had 7 hits
Fun Fact:
It’s a Heeke family reunion this week at Hi Corbett. Zach Heeke, the son of Arizona Vice President and Director of Athletics Dave Heeke is a senior infielder for the Central Michigan Chippewas.
* Photos Curtesy of Arizona Athletics
