June 1, 2002
MESA, Ariz. - Behind a stellar seven-strikeout, complete-game victory from starting pitcher Carlos Arguello, the No. 2 seed Arizona State Sun Devil baseball team staved off elimination from the NCAA Tournament with a convincing 11-1 victory over San Diego Saturday night at Hohokam Stadium.
The Sun Devils tagged USD for 14 hits and will now meet top-seeded Houston in the regional tournament finale. The Devils, who lost to the Cougars 8-4 Saturday afternoon, must beat Houston twice to advance to the Super Regional. The first game will begin at 1 p.m. with pitchers yet to be announced.
With the victory the Sun Devils improved to 37-20, equaling their win total from last year. San Diego ended its impressive season with a 39-23 record, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.
Arguello, a last minute announced starter, had a career night, bettering his previous career high of three strikeouts by fanning seven Toreros. He scattered seven hits and walked only two, adding ASU's second complete game of the day and fifth of the year. Sophomore Mike Esposito went nine full innings in the 8-4 loss to Houston earlier Saturday.
USD starter Aaron Wilson took the loss in the USD season finale, falling to 5-6 on the year. He yielded six hits and three early runs in three and a third innings. Reliever David Dunn was greeted with four hits and five runs (all earned) in just one full inning.
The Sun Devils jumped out to the early lead with two runs in the top of the second and never looked back. Allen plated the first run with a double to the left field gap to score right fielder Andre Ethier. Senior Sergio Garcia gave ASU the 2-0 lead with a soft single to center field to score Allen from second.
After a Jeff Larish solo home run in the third, the Devils threatened again in the fourth, but left the bases loaded. ASU capitalized with a big five-run fifth inning to extend its lead to 8-0. Allen sparked the rally with single to start the inning and Garcia started the scoring with a RBI single to right field. Senior catcher Cesar Castillo also plated a run with a single and sophomore Jeremy West capped the five-run inning with a two-out, two-run single to center field.
San Diego finally solved the crafty ways of Arguello with a run in the home half of the fifth. A two-out single from leadoff hitter Mike McCoy pushed home catcher S.C. Assael.
Allen led the offense with a 3-for-4 game, and Pedroia, Larish and West each finished with two hits. West, Ethier and Allen all contributed a pair of RBI in the win as well. Pedroia leads all ASU hitters in the regional with a .533 average (8x15) with three RBI. Allen is hitting .417 in regional play with a team-leading 11 total bases.
The Toreros seven-hit attack was led by the multi-hit games from McCoy and Assael.
Arizona State 11, San Diego 1 (Jun 01, 2002 at Mesa, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 021 050 003 - 11 14 0 (37-20) San Diego........... 000 010 000 - 1 7 2 (39-23) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Arguello. San Diego - Wilson; Dunn(4); Oseguera(5); Warlop(6); Coy(9). Win-Arguello(5-1) Loss-Wilson(5-5) T-3:11 A-1004 HR ASU - Larish (3).