April 14, 2000
PULLMAN, Wash. - The No. 4 ranked Arizona State Sun Devil baseball team scored early and often en route to a 24-3 crushing of the host Washington State Cougars in Pac-10 action Friday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Wash.
The Sun Devils (31-9, 7-3) made a point of why they are the nation's leading scoring team by pounding out 22 hits to score 24 runs. ASU, who was playing its inaugural game in Pullman, failed to score a run in only one inning, the sixth, and tallied multiple runs in six of the nine frames. The win by the Sun Devils marked their fifth in the last six games and extended the Cougars current losing streak to six games. WSU is currently 14-23 on the year and in last place in the Pac-10 with a 2-8 record.
ASU got virtually all the runs they needed in the first inning by sending 13 men to the plate and scattering WSU starter Todd Meldahl (1-5) from the game. After loading the bases on singles from Jeff Duncan and Casey Myers, Mitch Jones walked with the bases loaded to plate ASU's first run and then third baseman Mike Lopez followed with a run-scoring single. First baseman Jeff Phelps provided the big blow of the inning with his second grand slam of the year to stake ASU to the early 6-0 lead with an out yet recorded.
"We got off to a fast start and really swung the bat well today," said ASU head coach Pat Murphy. "We got lucky with some early hits that fell in the right place for us. I know we will see a different WSU team tomorrow so we have to come ready to play."
After the eight-run first inning, the Sun Devils added four runs in the third, two in each the fourth and fifth frames and four more in the eighth to give WSU its worst loss of the year. Eight Sun Devils players recorded multiple-hit games, six of which tallied three-hit affairs. Lopez finished just a triple shy of the cycle with a 3-for-4 game and four RBI. With his grand slam, Phelps went 3-for-6 with four RBI. In joining a host of other Sun Devils who had great games at the plate, pinch hitter Phil Downing made the most of his two plate appearances with two home runs and four RBI. Jon Switzer (8-1) recorded the win for ASU, allowing only two runs in six innings.
The Sun Devils and Cougars will continue their three-game Pac-10 series Saturday with a scheduled start of 1:05 p.m.