Whitton’s Walk Off Winner Lifts Huskies Over No. 16 Arizona, 9-8
SEATTLE – Cooper Whitton dropped a single into left field and Cam Clayton dashed home to give Washington a walk off win over No. 16 Arizona in 13 innings Sunday at Husky Ballpark, claiming the series over the Wildcats.
The game-winner was one of four knocks for the sophomore, who previously had never posted more than two hits in a game. Whitton drove in four of Washington's nine runs on the afternoon.
Sam Boyle earned the win out of the bullpen, retiring two of the three batters he faced. Max Fraser posted 3.1 shutout innings of relief before handing the ball to Grant Cunningham, who gave 4.1 innings of shutout ball.
Arizona got off to a 3-1 lead after two complete, but Jeter Ybarra's towering blast to right in the third tied the game at 3-all. However, Arizona scored four runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to seize control.
The turning point in the game came in the eighth, when Whitton crushed a line-drive three-run home run just inside the left field foul pole. Colin Blanchard followed with a double and Aiva Arquette tied the affair with a single swing, pummeling a no-doubt blast to left to square the score at 8-8.
Washington then went to Cunningham, who carried the Huskies into extras a left the tying run in scoring position in the 11th and 12th.
The Huskies, who had also failed to cash in on scoring chances in extras, got the job done in the 13th as Clayton led off with a sharp single to center, moved to second on Dylan Osborne's sac bunt and slid home to end it on Whitton's heroic hit.
Washington will remain home for the final midweek tilt of the season at Husky Ballpark on Tuesday, taking on Gonzaga at 4:05 p.m. PT. General admission tickets are available for two dollars. The matchup will be available for streaming through Pac-12 Insider.
DAWG BITES
• The series win is the third of the season for Washington in Pac-12 play
• The Huskies improve to 4-6 against ranked opponents in 2024
• Aiva Arquette extended his hitting streak to 17 games, matching the longest streak of the 2023 season, posted by Will Simpson
• Cooper Whitton has hit a home run in each of UW's last three Sunday games
• Whitton's four-hit game set a career-high, also matching his career-high of four RBIs
• Cam Clayton extended his own hitting streak to 12 games
• Going 4-for-7, Clayton has posted seven multi-hit games during the streak
• Going 2-for-4, Dylan Osborne has posted multiple hits in two of his last three games
• Grant Cunnningham has allowed just one earned run over his last 11 appearances
• Cunningham's ERA is down to 1.36, the second lowest in the nation
• Giving 3.1 shutout innings of relief, Max Fraser set a career-high with three strikeouts
• It was Fraser's first Pac-12 outing without allowing a run
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