The Arizona baseball team scored six runs in the game's first four innings and added five runs in the seventh inning to blow out Washington State 11-3 yesterday.
The Wildcats took two of three from the Cougars to win their first Pacific 10 Conference series.
"It's good to be 2-1 in the Pac-10 and raring to go," said UA head coach Andy Lopez.
"This was a big (game) for us. You have to beat teams like this," said junior pitcher Kevin Guyette.
Guyette (4-3) picked up his team-leading fourth win of the year yesterday, going six innings and giving up three runs, two earned. Guyette struck out five and walked three.
"The pitching performance by Guyette set the tone," Lopez said. "He did a great job and may be our Saturday (starter) again."
Guyette began the year as the Wildcats' Saturday starter but was moved to Sunday after he struggled early in the year.
Sophomore Jordan Brown added four RBIs in a 3-for-5 performance and junior Richard Mercado continued his hot streak, going 2-for-3.
"We just focused and concentrated more, and I think that helped us out," said freshman designated hitter Bill Rhinehart.
Arizona scored runs in the first four innings, putting one run on the board in the first and third innings and two runs apiece in the second and fourth.
With the Wildcats (13-11, 2-1 Pac-10) leading 6-3 in the top of the
seventh, the Cougars put the first batter on base, and Guyette was replaced by freshman Mark Melancon. The next WSU batter bunted over the baserunners. Melancon struck out the next hitter and got the final Cougar hitter to pop out to second base, leaving WSU runners stranded on second and third.
The Wildcats responded with five runs in their half of the seventh, capped by a pair of two-out hits.
Arizona had the bases loaded with no one out, when junior second baseman John Hardy hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring junior Pat Reilly. Freshman shortstop Jason Donald then hit an infield single to reload the bases.
Rhinehart struck out, which gave way to a two-out double by senior Moises Duran, which bounced over the Cougar third baseman's head and scored two runs. Brown followed with a single to right field that scored the team's final two runs.
"Two-out hits win baseball games," Lopez said. "It was good to see us come out after a tough night (last night)."
On Saturday, Arizona starting pitcher sophomore Luis Cortez lasted only two-thirds of an inning, giving up four runs on just one hit in a 10-4 Cougar win. Cortez walked four batters in the bottom of the first and gave up a bases-loaded double to Washington State's Zach McAngus.
Sophomore outfielders Trevor Crowe and Derek Decater paced the Arizona offense with 3-for-5 and 2-for-3 days, respectively.
In all, the Wildcats left a total of 10 runners on base Saturday, nine of whom were in scoring position. Cortez (2-3) picked up the loss.
Arizona broke a three-game losing streak Friday night with an 8-7 win over WSU to open the Pac-10 season.
The Wildcats scored eight runs on 14 hits and got a season-high nine strikeouts from junior starting pitcher Koley Kolberg (3-2) to beat the Cougars.
Junior Derek Rodriguez pitched the final inning and a third to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Rhinehart led the Wildcats' offense with a 3-for-5 day at the plate, including a two-run home run. Sophomore Jordan Brown added a double, a triple and two RBIs in three at-bats.
Arizona continues Pac-10 play this weekend when it travels to Corvallis to play Oregon State.