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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Arizona baseball beats No. 10 Mississippi to snap losing streak

The starting lineup for Arizona baseball was different once again on Friday night, but this time the outcome was different too compared.

The Wildcats (7-7) snapped their five-game losing streak by defeating No. 10 Mississippi State 12-3 at home.

“We played good baseball. It was good to see us do that,” head coach Andy Lopez said. “Hit and ran, execution wise [and] stole some bases. We kind of looked like Arizona again.”

Senior James Farris (3-1) earned the win, pitching eight innings with seven strikeouts and allowing eight hits and two runs in a total of 130 pitches.

Farris said his fastball location was what worked for him the most throughout the game and that his pitches were effective.

“I just really wanted to give my team a chance to win because we really needed that,” Farris said.

Arizona got on the board early in the bottom of the first inning scoring two runs. Sophomore Kevin Newman got the a two-out rally going with a double and junior Trent Gilbert followed with a triple to score Newman. Sophomore Zach Gibbons singled through the left side allowing Gilbert to score.

Gilbert led Arizona with five hits and six RBIs for the night after getting zero hits in the last game Arizona played on Mar. 5.

Gilbert said his first couple at bats his goal was to be able to hit a fastball.

“We weren’t really driving in runs [in the past games] and I was one of the reasons for it. I was leaving runners on base,” Gilbert said. “It feels really good to get back and win it especially with against a good team like that.”

Gilbert had two doubles and two triples.

“Obviously Trent Gilbert had a special night,” Lopez said.

Coach Lopez said that prior to Friday’s game the coaching staff had long discussions of how Arizona Baseball should look like. Putting the five-game losing streak behind, Lopez said he’s glad that’s over.

“I’m happy for the club,” Lopez said. “I was a better coach tonight. I have to remember what I said before the game.”

Arizona will face UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 7 p.m. The starting pitcher for Arizona will be Cody Hamlin (2-1).

—Follow Rose Aly Valenzuela @RoseAlyVal

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