WILL SEBERGER/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman Brad Boyer tries to beat a throw into second base during UA's series with Miami (Ohio) this weekend. Boyer scored four runs during the three-game set.

Even though the Wildcats got a break from conference play this weekend, they didn't get a rest from bullpen meltdowns.

Junior Sean Rierson gave up one run and scattered 10 hits over eight innings in his return to the rotation, as No. 21 Arizona (24-11, 3-3) escaped with a 9-4 series-clinching victory over Miami (Ohio) yesterday.

"It was great to see Sean pitch well," head coach Andy Lopez said. "Pitching will always dictate most of the games we play, and it did today."

But the Achilles' heel of the season resurfaced again in the top of the ninth when junior Mark Worrell entered the game with a 9-1 lead and promptly gave up two hits and a walk.

The poor performance by Worrell will prevent him from closing out future games.

"We will not pitch Worrell in the ninth inning. We'll have to find a different role for him and he will have to dictate that," Lopez said.

Freshman Pat Lawler came into the game and retired the first two hitters, but then allowed all three runs to score on a double and a wild pitch. He settled down to end the game with a strikeout. Offensively, right fielder Jeff Van Houten knocked in six runs and barely missed hitting for the cycle.

Van Houten, who went 3-for-5, opened with a single in the second and scored on a hit by catcher Rick Mercado. In the bottom of the third, Van Houten grounded into a bases-loaded fielder's choice to knock in his second run.

He later blasted a three-run homer to right center in the fifth inning and then tripled down the right field line to drive in two more runs in the sixth. With UA leading 9-1 in the eighth, centerfielder Brian Anderson flied out to right to end the inning with Van Houten on deck and a double short of the cycle.

"Brian said he'd get a hit for me," Van Houten said, who finished the series 9-for-13, with a 1.231 slugging percentage. "If I had gotten up and hit the ball anywhere I would have stretched it into a double."

At the beginning of the season Van Houten struggled to hold his starting job in the outfield with the additions of Terrence Taylor and Brad Boyer. But his consistency at the plate that turned into a .431 team-leading average kept him in the lineup all year.

"It's competitive and I like that. If our guys don't play well, then we can make an adjustment," Lopez said. "If you play well, you play."

On Saturday the Redhawks (12-14-1) torched starter Kevin Guyette for seven runs in the first two innings and coasted to a 9-4 victory. The Wildcats never recovered but managed to score four runs behind Van Houten's three hits. Miami's Graham Taylor threw a complete game, using 155 pitches.

Arizona had to bail out another bullpen collapse on Friday after Miami shelled freshman John Meloan for six runs to tie the score in the top of the ninth. Designated hitter Derek Decater singled home the winning run to take the game 11-10.

Both second baseman Moises Duran and catcher Nick Hundley missed the entire series to recover from injuries during the pause from conference play. Lopez said they will be back in the lineup this weekend against Washington.