March 22, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Senior third baseman Dennis Wyrick singled with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the No. 1 Arizona State Sun Devils a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the No. 6 Stanford Cardinal in the Pac-10 opener for both teams Saturday night at Packard Stadium. The game lasted a marathon four hours and 12 minutes in front of a packed crowd of 4,019.
ASU trailed 5-0 going into its half of the sixth inning before scoring three runs. Also down 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth, freshman outfielder Travis Buck legged out an infield single to plate the game-tying run to help force extra innings. With closer Ryan Schroyer shutting down the potent Stanford offense giving up only one hit and striking out two in three innings, Wyrick completed the comeback win with his third hit of the game to drive in sophomore shortstop Dustin Pedroia from third base.
With the victory ASU improves to 32-3 overall and 1-0 in Pac-10 play. Playing its first extra inning contest of the year and also first since April 20, 2002 (4-3 win over Cal in 10 innings), the Devils have now rebounded from each of their three losses with a victory in the next game. Stanford, who had not played in 12 days due to final exams, dropped to 14-8 overall and 1-2 in extra inning affairs this year. Stanford entered the game as one of the hottest teams in the nation winning 11 of its last 13 games. ASU also took a lead in the all-time series 77-76.
Schroyer picked up the win to improve to 4-0 on the year and maintained his perfect ERA without giving up an earned run this year in 20.1 IP. Schroyer, along with freshman starter Erik Averill (6-0, 2.20 ERA), senior reliever Beau Vaughan and senior Bryce Kartler combined to strikeout 14 Cardinal batters in an outing head coach Pat Murphy called phenomenal.
"Our pitchers were really on it today and threw strikes in key situations," said ASU's ninth-year skipper. "Averill really battled in his first career Pac-10 game and Beau Vaughan keeps coming up big for us when we need him. Stanford is a great hitting club and for our guys to strike them out 14 times show the guts of our pitching staff."
Averill struck out five and scattered seven hits in four innings and received the no-decision. Vaughan had a misleading statistical line giving up five hits and four runs in three and two-third innings, because the hard-throwing senior struck out seven and cleaned up an bases loaded, no-outs jam without giving up a run.
Stanford freshman reliever Matt Manship was saddled with the loss despite pitching well out of the bullpen. Manship allowed only two hits and struck out six in three and two-thirds innings. Junior starter John Hudgins recorded the no-decision giving up six hits and four runs in six innings.
After four scoreless innings by both sides, the Cardinal broke the 0-0 tie with two runs in the top of the fifth. Shortstop Tobin Swope led off with a single to right field and scored all the way from first base on a double to left field by second baseman Chris Lewis. Leadoff hitter Brian Hall singled to center to plate Lewis for the second run of the frame. Stanford threatened for more, but Vaughan cleaned up an inherited bases loaded jam with a 1-2-3 double play and a strikeout to catcher Ryan Garko.
Hudgins ended any chance of ASU answering in the bottom of the fifth by striking out the side and then saw the offense tack on three more runs to their lead in the top of the sixth. A one-out double from designated hitter Donny Lucy started the rally, with run scoring singles from Swope, Jed Lowrie and Hall.
ASU finally got to Hudgins in the sixth with three runs to cut the Stanford lead to 5-3. Andre Ethier put the first run up on the board with a sacrifice fly then Wyrick followed with a two-run triple down the right field line to plate two more runs.
The Devils completed the five-run comeback in the seventh behind a Travis Buck RBI single and a run-scoring groundout by Jeremy West. ASU had a chance to take the lead, but Manship ended the rally by striking out Ethier with two runners in scoring position.
Stanford took the lead in the top of the eighth with a two-out single by Hall, but the lead would be short-lived as the Devils rallied in the bottom half of the eighth. A one-out hit-by-pitch to catcher Joel Bocchi, followed by a single from Rod Allen put runners on first and third. After a walk do Dustin Pedroia, Buck then fought off a two-strike pitch from Manship that second baseman Lewis sat back on and Buck beat out the throw for the tying run to score.
ASU was led at the plate by the three hits from Wyrick who increased his season batting average to .403 (29-for-72) and is now a career .376 hitter in Pac-10 play (59-for-157). Buck was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Pedroia went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two walks in recording his 23rd multi-hit game of the year.
Stanford out-hit ASU 13-11 in the game with Hall leading the way with four hits and three RBI. The bottom of the order also had a solid night with Swope (No. 7 hitter) and Lowrie (No. 9 hitter) each recording two hits. The No. 2, 3, and 4 hitters in the Cardinal lineup (Sam Fuld, Carlos Quentin and Ryan Garko) combined to go 2-for-17.
Stanford (14-8) and Arizona State (32-2) continue the three-game Pac-10 series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live locally on KAZ-TV with George Allen and Doug Gerlach calling all the action. The game can also be hear on the radio live locally or on the world wide web (www.thesundevils.com) with Jeff Munn and Bob Eger calling the action from the Packard Stadium press box. Monday's series finale is scheduled for a rare 4:30 p.m. start.
Game Notes: Former Sun Devil Andrew Beinbrink (1996-99) threw out the ceremonial first pitch... Beinbrink, who is ASU's career leader in RBI and runs scored, is currently with the Texas Rangers in spring training... Nick Walsh and Garrett Schoenberger delivered the lineup card to home plate to continue ASU's new tradition... Pedroia singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to five games... he now has a hit in 33 of 35 games this year and 44 of 46 games dating back to the end of last season... ASU extended its NCAA record consecutive games scoring streak to 468 games with the three-run sixth inning... sophomore Jeff Larish extended his hitting streak to eight games after making his first start in over a week after being out with back spasms... Pedroia notched his 23rd multi-hit game of the year... already with more home runs on the year (40) then they hit all of last year (38), ASU has not hit a long ball in the last five games. Arizona State 7, Stanford 6 (Mar 22, 2003 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Stanford............ 000 023 010 00 - 6 13 3 (14-8, 0-1 PAC-10) Arizona State....... 000 003 210 01 - 7 11 2 (32-3, 1-0 PAC-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Stanford - Hudgins; Quick(7); Manship(7); O'Hagan(11). Arizona State - Averill; Vaughan(5); Kartler(8); Schroyer(9). Win-Schroyer(4-0) Loss-Manship(0-2) T-4:12 A-4019 --Sun Devil Baseball--