April 16, 2000
PULLMAN, Wash. -- It wasn't pretty and it wasn't flawless, but the No. 4 Arizona State Sun Devil baseball team persevered through some tough innings and a rough start to pick up a 14-8 win and series sweep over the Washington State Cougars Sunday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field.
The win improved the Sun Devils to 33-9 on the year and inched them near the top of the Pac-10 standings with a 9-3 record. The series sweep was the first of the year for ASU in Pac-10 play. WSU endured its third consecutive Pac-10 sweep and have now lost eight consecutive games to fall to 14-25 in 2000.
While the game lasted a marathon three hours and 54 minutes, it was one sequence of pitches in the fifth inning that virtually decided the game for the Sun Devils. With the Sun Devils holding a 8-6 lead in the bottom of the fifth and the bases loaded, reliever Franco Pezely struck out WSU's leading hitter Ray Hattenburg on a 3-2 fastball to preserve the lead.
"That was a big pitch from Pezely to one of the best hitters in the Pac-10," head coach Pat Murphy said. "He has done that a couple of times this year and this one really helped us towards the win. I am proud of the way the team battled today to pick up the series sweep."
After scoring two runs in the top of the first, WSU mounted a scoring attack for the first time in the weekend series with five runs. Left fielder Justin Williams provided the big blow with a bases loaded, two-out double to give WSU the 5-2 advantage.
With one swing of the bat in the third inning, Mitch Jones added to his NCAA leading home run total with his 22nd of the year to tie the game. After gaining the lead in the fifth with two unearned runs, ASU added three-run innings in sixth and eighth frames to gain their fourth consecutive win and sixth in the last seven games.
Pezely earned the win on the mound to improve to 5-2 with his 2.2 innings of one-run ball. WSU reliever Zach Fisher (2-3) was saddled with the loss.
Jones led the Sun Devils at the plate with a 3-for-5 game and four RBI. Third baseman Mike Lopez was also hot, contributing two doubles and a triple to the win. In the record keeping category, designated hitter Jonah Martin set a single-season ASU record by being hit by his 19th pitch. Hattenburg led the Cougars at the plate going 3-for-6 and finished the series with ASU 8-for-14 with two doubles.