March 16, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- The No. 1 Arizona State Sun Devils scored 10 runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 10-2 victory over No. 30 Oklahoma to clinch the series win over the Sooners in front of 2,900 fans Sunday evening at Packard Stadium.
Arizona State improved to 30-2 on the season with the victory and has won 21 of their last 22 games. Oklahoma dropped to 11-5 on the year. Both schools will meet again in a single game at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City (Triple-A stadium of Oklahoma Redhawks) on April 30 (7 p.m.).
Freshman lefty Erik Averill gave up one unearned run in his five innings of work to pick up the win and improved to 6-0. Averill scattered three hits and struck out three to lead ASU to their 30th win of the year. Relievers Beau Vaughan, Brett Bordes and Carlos Arguello combined to allow only four hits and one run over the final four innings to seal the win. Arguello, a senior lefty from Albuquerque, continues to shine after a rough start the season, throwing two scoreless innings Sunday to lower his season ERA to 6.23. He has not given up a run in his last five outings (6.0 IP).
The Sun Devils roughed up Oklahoma starter David Purcey for eight hits and nine runs in two innings to send the preseason All-American to the bench with his first loss of 2003. Purcey, who is rated as the No. 16 college prospect in the nation by Baseball America and had two saves in the series last year at Hohokam Park, gave up three quick runs before recording an out in the first inning and did not last past the second frame. Junior Mike Swindell all but locked up the Sunday starter position for the Sooners giving up one run and two hits in five innings out of the bullpen.
The Devils came out swinging hot bats in the first and never looked back. Dustin Pedroia, Dennis Wyrick and Mike Guerrero all hit doubles to leadoff the first inning en route to a four-run frame. Junior Jeremy West added a run on a single to right field and Rod Allen plated a run on a groundout.
The Devils continued to tear up Purcey with one more run in the second and then torched the preseason All-American for five more runs in the third. Steve Garrabrants, Andre Ethier and Ryan Bosch each tabbed run-scoring singles in the inning.
The Sooners scored a single tally in the third on a sacrifice fly from leadoff hitter Matt Arkison and catcher Spencer Wyman brought home OU's second run with his second home run of the series. Sooner shortstop Eddie Cornejo led OU at the plate going 2-for-4 and was flawless in the field recording nine assists and two putouts.
Pedroia notched his 21st multi-hit game of the year by going 2-for-4 and now has 21 doubles this year. Ethier also recorded two hits in the victory as ASU out-hit Oklahoma 10-7 in the game and 37-27 in the three-game series.
Arizona State returns to action in less then 48 hours with the first of a two-game series with nationally ranked Wichita State (13-5). ASU hosts the Shockers Tuesday and Wednesday with both games starting at 7 p.m. at Packard Stadium. Senior RHP and Kansas native Robbie McClellan (4-0, 4.43 ERA) will start Tuesday for the Sun Devils.
Game Notes: The Devils scored in the first inning for the 17th game this year... player of the year candidate Jeff Larish did not play for the second straight game with back spasms and is expected to be back for the Pac-10 opening Stanford series next weekend... ASU's four-run first inning extended their NCAA record consecutive games scoring streak to 465 games... ASU has now scored in double digits in 19 games overall and 12 of its last 14 games... Pedroia hit his 20th and 21st doubles of the year to pull to within nine of the school record set in 1978 by Chris Bando... despite heavy rains in the Phoenix area, the new state-of-the-art drainage system at Packard Stadium left the field dry with nearly perfect playing conditions... with 40 home runs on the year, ASU hit only two home runs in the series, both coming in Friday's 6-5 loss... ASU did record 13 doubles in the three games, including a season-high seven in Saturday's 10-3 victory... with Averill's 5.0 IP without giving up an earned run, the starters have a combined 17-0 record with a 2.55 ERA this season... the bullpen has also been impressive with a 13-2 record and six saves in 131.1 IP and a 3.63 ERA... the pitching staff has a combined 3.07 ERA. Arizona State 10, Oklahoma 2 (Mar 16, 2003 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Oklahoma............ 001 000 100 - 2 7 1 (11-5) Arizona State....... 415 000 00X - 10 10 3 (30-2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Oklahoma - Purcey, D.; Swindell, M.(3); McAuliff, J.(8). Arizona State - Averill; Vaughan(6); Bordes(7); Arguello(8). Win-Averill(6-0) Loss-Purcey, D.(0-1) T-2:29 A-2900 HR OKLA - Wyman, S. (5). --Sun Devil Baseball--