OMAHA – JC Cloney pitched a four-hitter and Ryan Aguilar drove in two runs, leading Arizona to a 3-0 victory over Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the College World Series finals on Monday night.
The Wildcats (49-22) can wrap up their second national championship in five years with a win Tuesday.
Cloney extended his scoreless innings streak at the CWS to 16. The junior lefthander pitched seven innings in the Wildcats' 3-0 win over UC Santa Barbara last Wednesday.
Cloney (8-4) allowed four singles, walked three and struck out six in the second complete game of his career.
The Wildcats scored in the first when Aguilar singled in Cody Ramer, who led off with a double. Aguilar added another RBI single in the seventh to make it 3-0.
Coastal Carolina (53-18), in the finals in its first CWS appearance, threatened in the ninth. Anthony Marks singled leading off and Zach Remillard bunted down the third-base line for a base hit on a close play. Connor Owings hit into a double play, and Cloney caught G.K. Young looking at strike three to end the game.
Arizona is back in the finals after having not made the NCAA tournament in the three years after its 2012 national championship. It has been dominant on the mound, allowing only six runs in six games, with two shutouts.
Arizona's defense, which hasn't committed an error at the CWS, continued to come up big. Second baseman Ramer, playing in short right field as part of a shift in the fourth, sprinted to bare-hand Young's grounder. His throw to first barely beat Young's headfirst slide.
