Cats beat #8 Cal State Fullerton and All-American pitcher Wes Roemer.
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FULLERTON, Calif. – Sophomore Preston Guilmet tied a career high with nine strikeouts and out-dueled preseason All-American Wes Roemer, as Arizona defeated No. 8 Cal State Fullerton 2-1 at Goodwin Field on Friday.
The Wildcats (9-0), who have won 14-straight dating back to last season, remain unbeaten on the year and have tied the best start to a season under head coach Andy Lopez (9-0 in 2005).
Guilmet (2-0) dominated over 7 2/3 innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits while issuing only one walk. The right-hander struck out the first four batters he faced on the minimum of 12 pitches and finished the contest with 100 pitches, 71 for strikes.
Guilmet turned the game over to sophomore closer Daniel Schlereth with two outs in the eighth inning. The left-hander slammed the door and proceeded to pick up his third save of the season over the final 1 1/3 innings. He struck out three of the five batters he faced and walked one.
Roemer (2-1), who eliminated the Wildcats in the Fullerton Regional in the championship game as a freshman in 2005 and defeated UA in the regular season as a sophomore last year, was charged with his first loss of the year after giving up two runs on seven hits over eight full innings. He finished with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Offensively, the Wildcats scored first in a contest for the ninth straight time this season. Freshman Kevin Rodland put the Wildcats on the scoreboard in the third when he tripled with one out to right center and scored on a sacrifice fly by classmate Dwight Childs in the following at-bat.
Fullerton rallied to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when catcher John Curtis drove home Joel Weeks with a one-out single up the middle. Arizona answered in the top of the fifth after Brad Glenn doubled down the left field line to lead off the frame and was driven home two batters later by freshman Erik Castro’s single up the middle.
Both Arizona and Cal State Fullerton had numerous opportunities to score throughout the game, but both Guilmet and Roemer effectively worked out of several jams. The Wildcats ended up leaving six runners on base in the game, while the Titans left seven.
Individually, freshman Robert Abel finished with two of Arizona’s seven hits in the ballgame, and sophomore T.J. Steele extended his hitting streak to 17-straight games dating back to last season with a leadoff double in the seventh.
Arizona and Fullerton will continue the series with game two of the three-game set on Saturday at 7 p.m. MST at Goodwin Field. Senior left-hander Brad Mills (2-0) is the scheduled started for the Cats.
