Arizona hit six homers and only surrendered six hits as the Wildcats won the Eugene Regional with a 14-0 win over Cal Poly.
Arizona went 3-0 in and breezed through the regional, beating the Mustangs twice and Utah Valley once.
Sunday’s championship game was never competitive.
One night after Arizona set a program record with eight homers against Utah Valley, Aaron Walton picked up right where his Wildcats left off. He blasted his 12th homer of the year off the batter’s eye in center to give Arizona a 2-0 lead before Cal Poly starter Ethan Marmie recorded an out.
In all, the Wildcats tallied five hits in the first frame to open up a quick 5-0 lead. All nine hitters in Arizona’s lineup hit in the first, seven of them reaching safely.
Marmie was not long for his championship-game start. He was quickly pulled after relenting his sixth hit in 30 pitches. Cal Poly had to turn to its bullpen much earlier than the Mustangs had hoped as their season hung in the balance.
The pitching change didn’t change much. Walton hit his second two-run blast in as many innings and Maddox Mihalakis left the yard as Arizona plated three more in the second. The Wildcats left no doubt as they earned their first Super Regional bid since 2021.
On the defensive side, Arizona’s Smith Bailey was stellar. Through the first four innings, Cal Poly only had two hits and neither of them left the infield. He finished with six shutout frames and limited the Mustangs to four hits and five strikeouts. He was elite in the Wildcats’ win.
Walton left the yard again in the sixth with another two-run homer. He became the second Arizona slugger in as many nights to record a three-homer game after Mason White did it in the Wildcats’ 14-4 dismantling of Utah Valley.
Mihalakis hit Arizona’s sixth homer of the night — and its 15th of the series — in the eighth to deal an unneeded final blow. Five of the Wildcats’ six taters were two-run shots and came in five different innings.
Arizona is on to the Super Regionals. The Wildcats will play the winner of the Chapel Hill Regional, which will be decided on Monday.
