By Craig Degel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thanks to some red-hot hitting and the red-hot arm of Ryan Frace, the Arizona baseball team has a .500 winning percentage for the first time since Feb. 7.
The Wildcats, who took three of four from the University of Hawaii-Hilo this past weekend, are back at Sancet Field today to begin a two-game series with St. Francis College (N.Y.).
Frace (3-2, 3.05 ERA) pitched his second complete game in as many appearances, guiding the Wildcats to an 8-0 victory over the Vulcans late Sunday night. All three of Frace's victories have been complete games.
"We've played good defense behind him," UA coach Jerry Kindall said. "Ryan's going to give up a lot of ground balls, so if we play good defense, then he has a chance to win."
Showing the way at the plate for the UA was Menno Wickey. The senior struggled in the early going but is currently hitting .327, and he put an exclamation point on the weekend by hitting for the cycle against the Vulcans Sunday.
The Wildcats returned to Tucson yesterday morning, but thanks to the airline, their baggage should arrive sometime today before game time. While some players went home to bed, many had exams to take, and much-needed rest was put on hold. However, Kindall did grant the players the day off from practice.
Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. Ben White (0-3) is scheduled to get the start today against the Terriers. White suffered the only loss to Hawaii-Hilo Ä a 5-4 defeat Ä in his last appearance.
"We played a good game on Friday, but we made two damaging errors in one inning, and they got a four-run inning," Kindall said.
The Terriers finished a series against Arizona State in Tempe last night.