Jan. 18, 2003
HILO, Hawai'i (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Sophomore first baseman Jeff Larish was 3-for-4 with four RBI as the No. 8 Arizona State Sun Devil Baseball team completed a doubleheader sweep of the University of Hawai'i at Hilo Vulcans with a 14-2 seven-inning victory Friday night at Wong Stadium. ASU won the first game 10-5 behind a strong game from sophomore shortstop Dustin Pedroia.
The win improved ASU to 3-0 in the young season and 14-0 all-time vs. the Vulcans. The Devils have scored 33 runs on 43 hits in the first three games of the series.
Senior starting pitcher Jered Liebeck (Glendale, Ariz.) picked up the win by recording seven strikeouts and allowing two runs in six innings of work. Junior right-hander Javy Lopez (El Paso, Texas) closed out the seven-inning win with a scoreless inning of relief work.
Larish (Tempe) had a two-run double in the first and a two-run single in the second to fuel ASU's hot start. Junior Rodney Allen (Culver City, Calif.) finished 2-for-4 with four RBI, including a bases loaded double that cleared the bases.
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning behind a two-run double off the bat of Larish. After Liebeck stranded the bases loaded, Larish helped ASU to another big inning in the second with a two-run single to put ASU up 5-0. True freshman left fielder Travis Buck (Richland, Wash.) had a pair of singles in each the first and second inning to help fuel the rally.
After a two-run third inning by the Vulcans, the Devils came right back with three more runs in the top of the fourth to gain a 9-2 advantage. Senior third baseman Dennis Wyrick provided the big hit with a two-run home run to deep center field. The two-run shot was the first of the Wyrick's career, a span covering 133 games and 413 at-bats.
Allen's bases loaded double in the top of the seventh put ASU up by 12 runs to put the 10-run rule in affect and shorten the game to seven innings.
ASU and UHH will play a single game tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Kona at Simmons Field.
Game Notes: The two runs in the first inning extended ASU's NCAA record consecutive games scoring streak to 436 games... Pedroia's single in the top of the fourth extended his current hitting streak to 14 games dating back to last year... Wyrick's home run in the fourth inning was the first of his career, coming on his 413th career at-bat... Liebeck's seven strikeouts were one off his career high of eight set last year vs. USC... Mike Guerrero added a pinch-hit single and is now 2-for-2 as a Sun Devil... Lopez has not yielded a run in his two innings as a Sun Devil... the double by Tuffy Gosewisch in the seventh was his first career extra base hit and he set a career high with two hits. Arizona State 14, Hawaii-Hilo 2 (Jan 17, 2003 at Hilo, Hawai'i) (Game 2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 231 310 4 - 14 14 0 (3-0) Hawaii-Hilo......... 002 000 0 - 2 7 4 (0-3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Liebeck; Lopez(7). Hawaii-Hilo - Miyahira; Vernon(2); Inaba(6). Win-Liebeck(1-0) Loss-Miyahira(0-1) T-2:31 A-302 HR ASU - Wyrick (1). --Sun Devil Baseball--