April 30, 2002
MESA, Ariz. -- Arizona State freshman right fielder Nick Cadena was 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI to help lead the 19th-ranked Sun Devils to a 14-2 victory over New Mexico State Tuesday evening in non-conference college baseball action at Hohokam Stadium.
The Devils improved to 27-16 with the win and will now take a week off from action for final exams. ASU will next be in action May 10-12 with a key Pac-10 match-up with No. 9 Stanford at Sunken Diamond. New Mexico State falls to 29-18 with the loss and is now 2-24 all-time vs. the Sun Devils.
Cadena, who is filling in for normal starting right fielder Andre Ethier (.362, 4 HR, 42 RBI), came into the game hitting only .097 (3x31) with one home run in 22 games, equaled his entire season hit total with his three vs. the Aggies Tuesday night. Also fueling the 19-hit ASU attack were multi-hit games from sophomore designated hitter Steve Garrabrants, sophomore first baseman Jeremy West, freshman third baseman Jeff Larish, sophomore left fielder Rod Allen and senior catcher Cesar Castillo. ASU's 19 hits were the most since a season-high 22 vs. Washington State (4/7) and Cadena's two home runs ended a streak of seven straight games without a home run for the Devils.
ASU starting pitcher Mike Esposito was phenomenal in his first start in over a week. Esposito logged his third double-digit strikeout performance of the year with 11 in his six-inning outing against the Aggies. The sophomore from Las Vegas scattered three hits and did not allow an earned run to improve to 7-5 on the year. The win was the first for Esposito in over a month dating back to his record-breaking 17-strikeout performance against Washington (3/29). Esposito also moved into second place in the Pac-10 with 82 strikeouts.
New Mexico State starting pitcher Tracy Lawrence (4-3) was saddled with the loss by allowing 10 hits and eight runs in five innings. Aggie relievers Justin Brown, Brad Cherry and Trey Reese combined to give up six runs and nine hits in three innings out of the bullpen.
The Sun Devils wasted little time extending their consecutive games scoring streak to 418 with three runs in the opening frame. Garrabrants led off the game with a single off the left field wall and came around to score on a bases loaded walk to Jeremy West. Sophomore left fielder Rod Allen plated a run on a single Larish helped the cause with a sacrifice fly.
The Devils continued to put runs on the board with two more in the second and a solo home run from Cadena in the third extended the Devils lead to 6-0. After a scoreless frame in the fifth, ASU tacked on two more runs on a two-run double to right field from Garrabrants to take a commanding 8-1 lead. A five-run sixth inning put the game out of reach with Cadena's second home run of the game (3-run HR) providing the big blow.
Garrabrants finished the game 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a single, while Larish tabbed three RBI on his two singles. Castillo continues his hot hitting with two more hits, extending his hitting streak to a career-high five games.
Limited to only five hits behind the stellar outings from Esposito, and a combined effort from the ASU bullpen of Carlos Arguello, J.J. Jackson and Aaron Klusman, no NMSU player recorded more than one hit. Senior first baseman Ryan Kenning was the lone bright spot for the Aggies, driving in a run in the eighth inning on a single to set the single-season school record with his 91st RBI. Arizona State 14, New Mexico State 2 (Apr 30, 2002 at Mesa, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New Mexico State.... 000 100 010 - 2 5 1 (29-18) Arizona State....... 321 025 10X - 14 19 1 (27-16) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: New Mexico State - Lawrence; Brown(6); Cherry(7); Reese(8). Arizona State - Esposito;Arguello(7); Jackson(8); Klusman(9). Win-Esposito(7-5) Loss-Lawrence(4-3) T-2:52 A-1644 HR ASU - Cadena 2 (3). --Sun Devil Baseball--