Matijevic's grand slam propels Arizona Baseball to a 4-1 Victory - Tucson News Now

 Arizona (6-4) defeated CSU Bakersfield (5-5) by a score of 4-1 on Saturday night at the Wildcat Invitational. JJ Matijevic provided the only run support of the game for the Wildcats as he blasted a grand slam to right center in the bottom of the third.

JC Cloney (2-0) was efficient as he gave the Wildcats eight innings of one-run baseball and earned his second win of the season. The junior allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out four. Bobby Dalbec entered the game in the ninth inning to shut it down, and the two-way player recorded his second save of the season after a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

After Cloney retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, Arizona got to work offensively in the bottom of the third. Ryan Haug started it off with a leadoff walk and then Cody Ramer bunted him over to second. Ryan Aguilar and Zach Gibbons both walked to load the bases and then Matijevic hit his second-career grand slam, giving Arizona a 4-0 lead.

CSU Bakersfield only allowed eight base runners in the next five innings and held the Wildcats scoreless for the rest of the game. Dustin Frailey put CSU Bakersfield on the board in the top of the fifth on a single through the right side of the infield, which scored Chance Gusbeth, but Cloney would shut things down after that as only two batters reached base for CSU Bakersfield in the last four innings.

Arizona will wrap up the Wildcat Invitational tomorrow with a doubleheader. The Wildcats are scheduled to play St. Mary’s at 1:30 p.m. MST and will get their rematch with Northwestern State at 6 p.m. MST.

Game Notes

• JJ Matijevic extended his hitting streak to eight games. He is hitting .452 with 14 hits, seven RBI, a double, a triple and a home run during his hot streak.
• Ryan Aguilar and Zach Gibbons have reached base in all 10 games this season. Gibbons was 1-2 with two walks and Aguilar was 0-1 with two walks tonight.
• Matijevic’s grand slam was the second of his career and was the first home run hit by a Wildcat at Hi Corbett in 2016. The last grand slam that was hit at Hi Corbett was last year on April 28th against Arizona State by none other than Matijevic.
• Cody Ramer was hitless in nine straight at bats until he poked a single over the shortstop’s head in the bottom of the seventh tonight.
• The Arizona pitching staff has struck out 25 batters while only walking one in the last three games.
• JC Cloney lowered his ERA to 2.91 while Dalbec lowered his to 0.84 tonight.

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