Arizona baseball loses to Oregon in Las Vegas

A change of scenery didn’t change Arizona’s luck on the diamond.

The UA lost 7-2 to unbeaten Oregon on Friday night at the Live Like Lou Las Vegas Classic, dropping to 1-8 on the season.

Arizona finished with five hits, all singles, with three by redshirt freshman Nate Novitske. The Wildcats’ runs came thanks to a dropped fly ball with the bases loaded in the top of the 4th inning.

They only trailed 4-2 at that point but in the bottom of the 5th starter Owen Kramkowski gave up a single and double and left with one out. Reliever Matthew Martinez then allowed a 3-run home run, the third of the night for Oregon.

Kramkowski allowed six runs in 4.1 innings, falling to 0-2.

Arizona did get a strong relief performance from lefty Maclain Roberts, who struck out four in 2.2 innings.

Oregon pitchers combined to strike out 19 UA batters, with freshman Cash Brennan whiffing five times and two others striking out thrice.

The UA will send sophomore righty Smith Bailey to the mound Saturday at 5 p.m. MT against Vanderbilt, which lost its tourney opener 9-4 to UC Irvine. It will be the first meeting with the Commodores since the opening night of the 2021 College World Series.