March 23, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- The No. 1 Arizona State Sun Devils nearly capped an improbable comeback by scoring seven runs in the last two innings to tie the game at 8-8 before the No. 6 Stanford Cardinal scored a single tally in the top of the 10th to gain a thrilling 9-8 victory in front of 3,483 fans at Packard Stadium.
Stanford improved to 15-8 with the victory and evened their Pac-10 record at 1-1 setting up the rubber match between the two teams Monday at 4:30 p.m. at Packard Stadium. Arizona State falls to 32-4 with the loss and 1-1 in Pac-10 play. The all-time series between the two schools is once again tied at 77-77. With ASU's 7-6 win in 11 innings to open the series Saturday night, ASU played in back-to-back extra-inning contests for the first time since a midweek trip to Oklahoma and Oral Roberts in 2001 (both wins in 11 innings).
The Devils looked flat and played sloppy defense trailing 8-1 heading into the eighth inning. Steve Garrabrants broke the silence of the ASU bats with a pinch-hit home run and ASU tacked on two more runs to cut the Stanford lead to 8-5. With two outs and two runners on in the ninth, junior Andre Ethier hit a three-run home run off reliever David O'Hagan to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
Stanford came right back and answered in the top of the 10th when leadoff hitter Sam Fuld scored pinch-runner Donny Lucy with his fourth hit of the day. Lucy scored from second after pinch-running for Jed Lowrie (reached on single) and stealing second base on a close play. ASU rallied again in the bottom of the 10th by loading the bases on a pair of walks, a Dustin Pedroia single, a sacrifice bunt by Travis Buck, but freshman reliever Kodiak Quick struck out Jeremy West and got Garrabrants to ground out to shortstop to end the game. Quick picked up his second save of the year while O'Hagan improved to 2-1 despite giving up four runs and four hits in two innings. ASU closer Ryan Schroyer gave up his first earned run of the year in one inning pitched and was saddled with the loss to fall to 4-1 on the year.
The Cardinal wasted little time putting a run on the board as Fuld drilled the first pitch of the game for a double down the left field line and then Brian Hall followed with a sharp single to put Stanford up 1-0. Freshman first baseman John Mayberry, Jr., plated a run with a single to center field to score the second run of the frame. They added to the lead to make it 5-0 with three more runs in the second. Hall continued his hot hitting with a two-run single to right field and Fuld also had a run-scoring single.
The Devils ended Ryan McCally's shutout bid with a single tally in the bottom of the fourth. Jeremy West drilled a double to right field and Dennis Wyrick followed with a two-out double that just missed clearing the fence for his second career home run to score West from third.
ASU attempted rallies in the middle innings, but left five runners on base between the fourth, fifth and sixth frames, three of which were left in scoring position. Jeff Larish, ASU's team leader in home runs with 11, just missed a three-run home run on a line drive that Stanford right fielder Carlos Quentin caught while up against the fence in the fifth.
The Cardinal scored two more runs in the seventh to increase their lead to seven runs at 8-1. Third baseman Jonny Ash plated a run on a groundout and shortstop Tobin Swope drove in a run with a bunt base hit to third base.
McCally, a 1999 graduate of Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix, pitched well enough to deserve the win scattering nine hits and three runs in seven-plus innings. At the plate Fuld led Stanford's 13-hit attack by going 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles and scoring three runs. Brian Hall and John Mayberry, Jr., also tabbed multi-hit contests.
The Devils started slow with the bats scoring only one run in the first seven innings, but rallied for seven hits in the eight, ninth and 10th frames to out-hit the Cardinal 14-13. Pedroia notched his 24th multi-hit game of the year going 3-for-6 with his 22nd double. Wyrick continued his hot hitting going 3-for-4 and is now 6-for-10 (.600) in the series and a career .385 (62-for-161) career hitter in Pac-10 play. Ethier also had a good day at the plate going 3-for-4 with three RBI and a double. West added three hits, but left five runners on base with a pair of strikeouts. Larish struggled while making his second start back from back spasms going 0-for-5 and is 1-for-9 in the series.
Defensively ASU tied a season high with three errors, including two by catcher Joel Bocchi. Stanford was also 6-for-7 stealing bases off ASU's catchers. The Sun Devil bullpen was once again effective combining to allow only four runs in the last seven innings and retired each of the five batters that each reliever faced first.
Game Notes: ASU fell behind with the two-run first inning for the third straight game... ASU extended its NCAA record consecutive games scoring streak to 469 games with Wyrick's run-scoring double in the fourth... after going 0-for-4 in the series opener, including a pair of strikeouts looking, Jeremy West recorded three hits Sunday, with all three being hit on the first pitch... Garrabrants hit ASU's first pinch-hit home of the year, ending ASU's five-game streak of not hitting a homer... ASU tied a season-high with three errors... the offense has now recorded 10 or more hits in 28 of 36 games... junior RHP Josh Perrault made his 2003 season debut pitching one scoreless inning... Perrault had been scheduled to redshirt this season but progressed to the point of being an impact reliever for the rest of the season. Stanford 9, Arizona State 8 (Mar 23, 2003 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Stanford............ 230 100 200 1 - 9 13 1 (15-8, 1-1 PAC-10) Arizona State....... 000 100 043 0 - 8 14 3 (32-4, 1-1 PAC-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Stanford - McCally; Ehrlich(8); O'Hagan(8); Quick(10). Arizona State - Liebeck; Sopko(2); McClellan(4); Perrault(8); Bordes(9); Schroyer(10). Win-O'Hagan(2-1) Save-Quick(2) Loss-Schroyer(4-1) T-3:31 A-3483 HR ASU - Garrabrants (5); Ethier (2). --Sun Devil Baseball--