By Craig Degel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Arizona baseball team went into this weekend's three-game series against UCLA expecting Bruin catcher Tim Decinces to work his usual offensive magic. Instead, the Wildcats bore witness to The Pete Zamora Show.
The freshman first baseman from Mission Viejo, Calif., was the late-inning hero in the Bruins' come-from-behind wins Friday and Saturday.
Saturday, Zamora was the pitcher of record when he blasted a two-run home run off UA reliever Ben White in the bottom of the eighth. He then went to the mound in the top of the ninth with an 11-10 lead and promptly retired the Wildcats in order.
With the win, Zamora upped his record to 3-2 and White fell to 0-7.
But Saturday's heroics paled in comparison to Zamora's ninth-inning show Friday.
Kirt Kishita's strong seven-plus-inning performance went all for naught when the Bruins, who were down to their last strike in the bottom of the ninth, loaded the bases on two infield singles and a walk given up by White. Then, up stepped Zamora.
With the count 0-2, he smacked a grand slam over the right field wall to lift the Bruins to an 8-6 win. It was his second home run of the game and just his third of the year. Zamora finished the night going 2-for-4 with six RBI.
Jeff Gjerde paced the Wildcats at the plate Friday. He was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Saturday, Chris Cooper and Diego Rico provided the pop for the offense. Cooper went 2-for-5, including his fifth homer of the year. Rico went 3-for-4 with a home run Ä his first of the year Ä three RBI and two runs scored.
Jim Parque pitched a nine-inning gem in Thursday's 7-1 Bruin victory. He allowed the Wildcats only three hits in earning his second Six-Pac victory in a row.
The Bruins lifted their record to 22-17 overall (10-11 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division), while the Wildcats fell to 17-28-1 overall and 4-17 in the Six-Pac.