Arizona Opens Postseason with 4-3 Win over Oral Roberts!
In what amounted offensively to “a tale of two games” for Arizona, the Wildcats took advantage of a season-high 16 strikeouts by the pitching staff and a prolonged weather delay to hold off Oral Roberts, 4-3, in the opening game of the NCAA Wichita Regional on Friday.
With the Wildcats mounting just three total hits and the contest deadlocked 3-3 after six and half innings, Mother Nature halted the proceedings with a one-hour and 17-minute severe weather delay in the bottom of the seventh.
The lightning-induced respite provided a much-needed break for the Wildcats’ offense, which strung together three straight two-out singles right after play resumed to scrape across the go-ahead and turn the contest over the UA bullpen.
After ORU reliever Erik Crichton retired the first two UA batters in the seventh, Colt Sedbrook ignited a rally with a bloop hit that fell into right for a single. C.J. Ziegler followed with a base hit up the middle to place runners on first and second for Bill Rhinehart.
With his 12-game hitting streak on the line, the senior outfielder deilivered with a soft single to center that provided just enough time to plate Sedbrook with the go-ahead score.
