By
Brian Penso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA lacks defense and timely hitting in loss to SMC
The season may have just begun, but the Arizona baseball team is already in the midst of a losing streak.
The Wildcats lost yesterday's rubber match against Saint Mary's College, 8-4.
The Wildcats (5-4) have been lacking consistency all season, and it was apparent that they were a team struggling against the Gaels (2-1) yesterday at Sancet Field.
"We need to improve in all phases of the game," Arizona head coach Jerry Stitt said. "We've lost a couple of games, and we have not done anything well."
The Wildcats lacked defense and timely hitting versus the Gaels, a team from the West Coast Conference and located in Moraga, Calif.
In the seventh inning, down 5-3, Arizona had an opportunity to catch SMC. With one one and the bases loaded, junior right fielder Shelley Duncan came to bat with senior first basemen Ernie Durazo on deck.
Duncan, the team's offensive leader, popped out to the pitcher, and Durazo was retired as well, and Arizona wasted its only opportunity to gain any momentum.
"We just need to execute in clutch situations when there are guys on base," sophomore second baseman Matt Abram said. "We had as many hits as them, and they had eight runs, and we had four. When guys get in scoring position, we need to knock them in."
Stitt said the team is also lacking discipline at the plate.
This was clear in Duncan's at-bat in the seventh inning with the bases loaded. Duncan popped out to the pitcher on a 3-1 count.
"They still did not throw him a strike," Stitt said. "I always want to see discipline. We need to be aggressive, but we have to get good pitches to hit."
SMC's starting pitcher, junior J.G. Larochette (1-0), pitched five innings to earn his first win of the season.
UA pitcher Sean Rierson( 0-2) suffered his second loss.
The freshman from Phoenix pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five runs. Of those five runs, only two were earned.
"We are just not getting to balls that we should, and that causes our pitchers to throw more pitches than they need to," Stitt said.
In the third inning, Rierson pitched out of a jam, but a ball off Abram's glove led to three SMC runs and a four-run Gaels outburst.
The Wildcats never recovered.
"Rierson did all right," Stitt said. "That one error hurt him. He was basically out of that inning."
Durazo said that the team's success in 2001 will be a direct result of its intensity, both on and off the field.
"We just need to come out and hustle, Durazo said. "The problem right now is that we are not staying focused and overcoming adversity. This is a young team, and we need to work on being focused so we can click on all cylinders."
