Washington State bullpen sparkles in series-opening home win over Arizona

PULLMAN – Washington State’s bullpen blanked Arizona during the back half of the game and the Cougars muscled out enough offense to claim a series-opening Pac-12 victory.

Two WSU relievers combined to allow just two hits and a walk over the final five innings. The Cougs took the lead in the fifth inning, added a couple of insurance runs in the seventh and closed out a 6-3 win on Friday evening at Bailey-Brayton Field.

Cam Liss, a lefty from Spokane, entered in the fifth inning in place of Dakota Hawkins, who toiled through a rocky start. He surrendered nine hits, but limited the damage to three runs.

Liss pitched a clean 1⅓ innings, then handed it off to Wilford. The junior-college transfer kept the Wildcat bats quiet. He gave up two singles, but nothing else.

“The bullpen was the story,” WSU coach Brian Green said. “They enabled us to separate. … Connor and Cam were outstanding.

“It’s cold and they had their breaking balls (working),” Green added of his relievers’ performances. “That can be tough in the cold to have a feel for your secondary pitches, and both of those guys had it.”

WSU (20-12, 6-9 Pac-12) showed poise at the plate in the seventh inning and pulled away from Arizona (17-14, 5-11) with two insurance runs. The Cougars loaded the bases with consecutive two-out walks and a hit batsman. Third baseman Cam Magee then roped a 3-1 pitch to right field for a double, driving home a pair of teammates to fashion the final tally.

“Those were tough pitches that guys were laying off,” Green said of the start to the inning. “If your brain’s not right and you’re thinking about the result, you might chase. They were just tough, quality at-bats. Big hit by Cam to put us up three. That changes it a little bit, then we were able to keep Connor in, extend him and save the bullpen for tomorrow.”

The Cougars took a 2-1 lead in the second inning after catcher Will Cresswell’s two-out, RBI single and second baseman Elijah Hainline’s sacrifice fly. The Wildcats went back ahead in the fourth inning.

WSU’s lineup went quiet before finding life in the fifth inning. First baseman Sam Brown worked a bases-loaded walk and shortstop Kyle Russell plated a run with a groundout.

Magee, a first-year Coug out of Arizona State, hit 2-for-3 with two RBI. Outfielder Jonah Advincula went 2-for-4 and four other WSU batters had a hit and an RBI apiece. The Cougs totaled eight hits and struck out five times. The Wildcats logged 11 hits, but left eight runners stranded on base.

Arizona starter Jackson Kent, a true freshman making his first-career start, pitched 4⅓ innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Reliever TJ Nichols (3-4) took the loss after ceding three runs on one hit and four walks over 2⅓ innings.

The Cougs and Wildcats meet again at 3 p.m. Saturday.