SPORTS SCORE CENTER
Monday, February 16, 2015 • Page 6 Editor: Roberto Payne sports@wildcat.arizona.edu (520) 621-2956 twitter.com/wildcatsports
BASEBALL
MEN’S HOOPS
Wildcats spank Cougs on road
Wisconsin holds off Fighting Illini No. 5 Wisconsin 68, Illinois 49
Northern Iowa keeps streak going
BY JAMES KELLEY The Daily Wildcat
of the game later that inning after a wild pitch by Michael Marsinek. “For me, it feels good again,” Arizona coach Andy Lopez said. “They look like they want to compete, which is the big thing.” Arizona outscored the Eagles 16-3 on Saturday, thanks in large part to Scott Kingery, who went 5-6 from the plate and was a double short of a cycle. Kingery’s weekend resume included four runs and five RBIs, three of which were on Saturday. He also hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning on Saturday night and finished 7-13 at the plate over the weekend. “Scott Kingery had a great weekend offensively,” Lopez said. “But a few other guys did, too.”
With Arizona men’s basketball leading 46-19 with 2:20 left in the first half, Arizona coach Sean Miller angrily called a time out after Washington State scored back-to-back field goals. The message was clear: Miller won’t tolerate the kind of lapses that led to shocking defeats at lowly UNLV, mediocre Oregon State and ASU men’s basketball. With that intensity, the No. 7 Wildcats (22-3, 10-2 Pac-12 Conference) dominated Washington State 86-59 on Sunday. Since losing to ASU, the Wildcats have routed Washington 86-62 and then Washington State, improving their road record to 6-3. Arizona didn’t hold the Cougars to 25 points again, but the win was mighty impressive. How often do you get to play the walk-ons in back-to-back road games? The Wildcats were the walking wounded, playing without backup point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright and backup center Dusan Ristic. Plus, point guard T.J. McConnell looked a bit off, guard Gabe York looked a little dazed and forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was shaken up. Plus, the Washington trip is absolutely brutal. Arizona had to fly across the country, then take a bus ride across the state to remote Pullman, Wash. However, the Wildcats beat the Cougars so bad, they were out-scored 40-33 in the second half and still won by 27. Assuming McConnell and Hollis-Jefferson are OK, the Washington State win was exactly what Arizona needs. The Wildcats emptied the bench and gave their starters a little rest before this short week begins. We were able to make a bunch of jokes on Twitter about Washington State’s struggles, and Miller got more ammo to improve the Wildcats’ fatal flaw. Arizona has a problem with focus, evidenced by its embarrassing losses and its reaction. After losing to UNLV, the Wildcats beat ASU 73-49.
BASEBALL, 7
MEN’S HOOPS, 7
No. 13 Northern Iowa 68, Missouri State 57
Barcelona keeps pace with Madrid FC Barcelona 5, Levante 0
FIND IT ONLINE JORDAN GLENN/THE DAILY WILDCAT
ARIZONA BASEBALL pitcher Tyger Talley (19) delievers a pitch during Arizona’s 6-2 win against Eastern Michigan at Hi Corbett Field on Sunday. Talley and the Wildcats swept EMU over three games.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Arizona jumps out early, destroys WSU
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Washington victory exactly what UA needed UPCOMING SCHEDULE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2/19 vs. USC
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 1/16 at Stanford
SOFTBALL
2/19 at Kentucky
BASEBALL 2/20 at USC
GYMNASTICS
2/16 vs. ASU
TWEET TO NOTE Oh my goodness. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Just kept elevating. #SCtop10 — @APlayersProgram
The Arizona basketball Twitter speaks on Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s big second-half dunk against Washington State on Sunday.
twitter.com/wildcatsports twitter.com/wildcathoops facebook.com/wildcatsports
So far, so good
Arizona baseball opened the season with a three-game series sweep over Eastern Michigan BY NICOLE COUSINS The Daily Wildcat
Arizona baseball completed a three-game sweep of the Eastern Michigan Eagles Sunday, closing out the afternoon game 6-2. Backed by strong pitching and big batters, the Wildcats (3-0) proved they are back in 2015. Starters Austin Schnabel, Robby Medel and Tyger Talley combined for 21.2 innings and 17 strikeouts over the three games. “I think it’s big that our starters could go really deep in the games this weekend,” said Talley, who contributed nine of those strikeouts. Talley, who typically pitched five to six innings last season, went for 7.1 innings on Sunday and retired 13 straight batters before Bobby Dalbec took over in
WOMEN’S HOOPS
UA swept by Oregon schools BY EZRA AMACHER The Daily Wildcat
Arizona women’s basketball was swept on the road this weekend by Oregon and Oregon State. The two losses drop the Wildcats to 9-16 overall and 2-12 in Pac-12 Conference play. Arizona traveled to Corvallis on Sunday afternoon where it fell 73-48 to No. 8 Oregon State. The story of the game was found on the glass, where the Beavers outrebounded the UA 48-22. No Wildcat player had more than four boards. Arizona, nonetheless, kept the game competitive in the first half with the deficit never reaching double digits until 6:40 remained. Oregon State opened up on a 12-4 run to solidify the lead in the second half. The Beavers also started to lock down defensively, holding Arizona to under 22 percent from the field in the half. Arizona forwards LaBrittney Jones and Alli Gloyd each scored a team-high 10 points to lead the UA offensively. Meanwhile, Arizona guard Candice Warthen’s nine points moved her to No. 16 on the school’s all-time scoring list. Arizona couldn’t do enough to slow down Oregon State on defense.
WOMEN’S HOOPS, 7
the eighth. Talley also recorded 72 strikes in 102 pitches in his three-hit appearance. Eastern Michigan took an early lead on Sunday, responding to the Wildcats’ one-run first with a solo home run by Mitchell McGeein in the second inning. The Eagles scored again in the third inning off a fielder’s choice and held Arizona to one run through the fifth. The Wildcats capitalized on a pair of throwing errors from Eastern Michigan pitcher Jake Andrews in the sixth inning. Kevin Newman, Tyler Krause and Dalbec all reached home plate to go ahead 4-2. Catcher Riley Moore, who replaced Sunday starter Handsome Monica in the seventh inning, scored off a bunt by Sawyer Gieseke in the eighth. Gieseke tacked on the final run
SOFTBALL
Arizona improves to 9-0 over weekend BY ROBERTO PAYNE The Daily Wildcat
Six games in four days didn’t faze No. 12 Arizona softball, as the Wildcats won all six games to improve to 9-0 on the season. Winning all six games wasn’t really the news of the weekend, either; it was the way the Wildcats won. Arizona defeated Drake twice, Loyola Marymount, Wright State, San Jose State and Loyola Chicago to finish the 2015 Hillenbrand Invitational unscathed. The Wildcats outscored those five opponents by a remarkable tally of 61-6, including 32 total runs coming on Friday alone. Arizona’s most recent matchup saw the Wildcats matched up with Drake for the second time over the weekend. Arizona defeated Drake 8-0 in five innings, led by pitcher Nancy Bowling’s complete game performance. Arizona outfielder Katiyana Mauga hit two home runs in the game, with the second being of the walk-off variety. Mauga’s tworun bomb in the bottom of the fifth inning put the Wildcats up by the maximum eight runs to end a game after five innings. “I was excited just because I got on base, actually,” Mauga said. While Mauga paced the Wildcats
TANNER CLINCH/THE DAILY WILDCAT
ARIZONA SOFTBALL utility Katiyana Mauga (34) slides into third base during Arizona’s 9-1 win against San Jose State at Hillenbrand Stadium on Saturday. Mauga and the Wildcats went 6-0 over the weekend to improve to 9-0 on the season.
offensively, Bowling did the same on the mound. The junior pitched five innings of shutout ball and gave up just five hits and two walks, lowering her ERA to 1.17 in the process. In her first extended action of the season, Bowling said the defense behind her played a big part in her success on Sunday. “I love it; it’s beautiful,” Bowling
said. “When you go out there and you’re pitching, say, for instance, there’s a hit. You’re like, ‘Whatever.’ You don’t care if the ball gets hit, because you know you have the best defense behind you.” Saturday’s action was much of the same as Arizona took down San Jose State 9-1 in six innings
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