By
Brian Penso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Freshman pitchers spur UA victories
The Arizona baseball team completed its first series sweep of the season with victories over New Mexico Friday and Saturday at Sancet Field.
The Wildcats (8-7 overall) seemed to jell for the first time all season, coming together with a balanced attack from its young pitching staff to go along with solid play from their offense as well as their defense.
UA's freshman pitchers stepped up for the Wildcats, pitching a combined 16 and one-third innings and allowing just two runs on 13 hits.
"Guys pitched well this weekend," Arizona head coach Jerry Stitt said. "The freshman starters did a great job. I like the way they stepped up and kept (New Mexico) off balance."
Saturday, in UA's 11-3 victory against the Lobos (0-6), freshman Chris Goodman earned his first collegiate victory by pitching five shutout innings and notching six strikeouts.
"When the team is scoring runs and playing defense, it's easier to pitch," Goodman said. "I think we're doing great and we are getting our confidence going. Now we know it is up to us and we can't rely on anybody else."
Another freshman - Sean Rierson - pitched eight shutout innings in the Wildcats' 8-0 victory over the Lobos Friday.
Stitt said he was also pleased with the defensive improvement shown by Arizona this past weekend.
"We played good defense in this series," he said. "We're doing a good job of getting off the ball and making the plays we need to."
The Wildcats offense also had success against New Mexico's pitching.
The offense was led by senior first baseman Ernie Durazo, who extended his career-high hitting streak to 18 games.
Over the weekend Durazo contributed two hits and three RBI.
"I try to get a hit every game," he said. "It's really fun, and I wonder if this will be the last day or if it will continue. I just try to not do too much, just try to get on base."
While the non-conference sweep has helped the Wildcats regain some of the confidence lost in early-season defeats, UA sophomore second baseman Matt Abram said the competition will only get harder as the season goes on.
"It was fun to get a sweep, but we will face tougher competition than this," Abram said. "We'll try to build off of it and keep things in perspective. Hopefully our play this weekend will carry over into the Pac-10 season."
