March 28, 2003
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Senior third baseman Dennis Wyrick went 3-for-6 with three RBI to help lead the No. 2 Arizona State Sun Devils to a 11-4 Pac-10 series opening victory over the USC Trojans Friday night at in a marathon four-hour game at Dedeaux Field.
Arizona State improved to 33-5 overall and evened its Pac-10 mark at 2-2. Playing outside the state of Arizona for the first time since Jan. 31-Feb. 2 (Long Beach State), ASU is now 9-1 on the road in 2003. USC, who was rated as high as No. 3 in the nation in the preseason polls and is the two-time defending Pac-10 champion, lost its fourth straight game to fall to 13-15 overall and 1-3 in Pac-10 play.
Arizona State pounded out 17 hits and scored in double-digits for the 20th time this season. Despite leaving a season-high 17 runners on base, the Devils scored two or more runs in four innings, including a pair of three-run frames. The Devils had seven players record multi-hit games, with the top four in the lineup (Pedroia, Wyrick, Larish, Ethier) combining to go 9-for-20 (.450). Pedroia finished the game 2-for-5 with two walks to record his 25th multi-hit game.
After a solid start by senior right-hander Beau Vaughan (Glendale, Ariz.), four Sun Devil relievers combined to give up only one hit in four and a third innings. Vaughan (5-1) gave up eight hits and four runs in four and two-thirds innings to record the no-decision. Freshman lefty Brett Bordes (Mesa, Ariz.) recorded the victory while recording only one out, but stranded an inherited bases loaded jam to pick up his first career victory. Senor lefty Carlos Arguello, Bryce Kartler and Josh Perrault combined to limit USC to only one hit over the final four innings.
USC freshman lefty Bobby Paschal took the loss to fall to 2-4. Paschal scattered nine hits and gave up five runs in three and a third innings. The five Trojan pitchers combined to walk 14 batters, falling just two short of the school record of 16 set in 1970 vs. the University of Arizona.
The Devils scored first with two runs in the top of the second. After a pair of two-out singles by Ryan Bosch and Tuffy Gosewisch, and a walk to leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia, senior third baseman Dennis Wyrick plated two runs with a single to right field. Wyrick ended an 0-for-16 slump at Dedeaux Field in his career with the two-strike single.
USC battled right back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 2-2. Third baseman Michael Moon led off with a single to left field and moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Jon Brewster. Right fielder David Gordon then tied the game with a two-run double to the right field gap.
ASU threatened in the top of the third, but left the bases loaded when Gosewisch lined out to left field to end the inning. The Trojans cashed in on the missed opportunity by the Sun Devils, scoring a run on a fielder's choice by Moon to take a 3-2 lead.
The see-saw battle continued in the fourth when ASU retook the lead by sending eight batters to the plate to score three runs. Allen and second baseman Frank Mesa each plated runs with bases loaded walks and freshman left fielder Travis Buck scored a run on a single to right field. The Devils added two more runs to their lead in the fifth. Wyrick tabbed a run-scoring single and Andre Ethier drilled a "broken bat" double off the right field wall to score the second run of the frame. ASU then tacked on three more runs in the sixth behind a two-run double from Jeff Larish.
Game Notes: Ryan Schroyer and Josh Perrault delivered the lineup card to home plate prior to the start of the game... the two-run second inning extended ASU's NCAA record consecutive games scoring streak to 471 games... the streak dates back to April 7, 1995 when the Trojans handed ASU its last shutout almost eight years ago... Pedroia's single to lead off the game extended his hitting streak to eight games and he now has at least one hit in 36 of ASU's 38 games this year... Pedroia also recorded his 25th multi-hit game of the year... for the 29th time this year (in 38 games), the Sun Devils recorded 10 or more hits... ASU had 10 hits after its first four at-bats... for the 20th time this year ASU also scored 10 or more runs in a game... competing in the Pac-10 Gymnastics meet Saturday at UCLA, the No. 3 ASU Gymnastics team made a guest appearance at Dedeaux Field... ASU left two ore more runners on base in each of the first six innings and a season-high 17 total in the game... Bordes inherited the bases loaded for the sixth time and it was the third time he did not let anyone score.... Larish now has 60 RBI on the year and is only 11 away from the 2002 Pac-10 leader last year (Jeremy West)... ASU was perfect in the field for the 15th time in 2003.