May 12, 2003
CORVALLIS, Ore. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Dustin Pedroia went 2-for-3 and hit his school-record tying 30th double of the year as the No. 3 Arizona State Sun Devils opened up a three-game Pac-10 series with Oregon State crushing the Beavers 14-4 in a marathon four-hour, 12-minute game Monday afternoon at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
With the victory the Sun Devils improved to 45-9 on the year winning their seventh straight game and remain in second place in the Pac-10 with an 11-5 mark. The Devils also improved to 6-1 in conference games on the road this year and have an overall 26-4 mark when playing away from Packard Stadium. Oregon State dropped to 21-25 overall and 5-14 in Pac-10 play ASU has now won six straight games over the Beavers to lead the all-time series 26-4. The 45 wins marks the most for a team during the Pat Murphy era (1995-P) and the most by an ASU squad since 1994 (45-18).
"We came out slow and we were a bit rusty after only playing twice in the last two weeks," said ASU head coach Pat Murphy. "We put some nice at-bats together and were relentless. It's always tough to play on the road and our guys have had a lot to deal with taking final exams. Our pitching will be test on this road trip (six games in eight days) and we got some good performances tonight to start us off on the right foot."
Pedroia went 2-for-3 and reached base five total times with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He recorded his 33rd multi-hit game of the year and extended his current hitting streak to 10 games, marking the fourth 10+ game hitting streak of the year. His fourth inning double plated what ended up as the game-winning RBI was his NCAA leading 30th of the year, tying the ASU single-season record set by Chris Bando in 1978. Pedroia continues to lead the Pac-10 with a .422 batting average.
On the mound senior starter Ben Thurmond was greeted with an unkind strike zone and gave up seven hits and four runs to record the no-decision. Senior Robbie McClellan pitched well in relief picking up the win to improve to 6-0 on the year. McClellan gave up only two hits in three and two-thirds scoreless innings. Senior left-hander Bryce Kartler added two scoreless innings to seal the win for the Devils.
In addition to Pedroia's big night, the Devils had a strange night at the plate. While recording 10 or more runs for the 28th time this year and surpassing double-digits in hits for the 40th time, the Devils also recorded season highs in strikeouts (13) and stolen bases (5). Sophomore first baseman Jeff Larish went 2-for-4 with three RBI to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games and now has 82 RBI on the season. Andre Ethier (2-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI), Travis Buck (2-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI) and Steve Garrabrants (2-for-4, R) all recorded multi-hit games.
After the Sun Devils left a pair of runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings, Oregon State capitalized to take the first lead of the game scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Consecutive singles from Tony Calderon and Seth Pietsch both resulted in runs. Calderon scored on an errant throw by ASU third baseman Frank Mesa and Pietsch came in to score on a single by third baseman Brad Mellinger. The Beavers plated the third run of the inning on a single to right field by leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury.
ASU responded by tying the game in the top of the third with three, two-out runs. Andre Ethier walked with one out and came in to score all the way from first base on a double to the left field gap by designated hitter Jeremy West. Freshman right fielder Travis Buck then tied the game with a towering home run, his fourth of the year, over the right field fence. The home run broke an 0-for-11 streak for Buck at the plate.
The Sun Devils put another three-run inning on the board in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead. Pedroia started the rally with a double down the left field line and then Ethier plated two runs on a single up the middle to stake the Devils to the 6-3 lead. After a Beaver run in the fourth, ASU added to its lead in the sixth when Jeff Larish tabbed his 80th RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly to deep right field to make it 7-4.
ASU added a run in the seventh, two more runs in the eighth and put up four runs in the ninth to bring the final score to 14-4. Larish plated two more runs with a double down the left field line to bring his season total to 82.
Oregon State starter Ben Rowe picked up the loss giving up seven hits and seven runs in five innings. The Beavers left 13 runners on base and committed three errors in the contest. Ellsbury finished 2-for-4 and center fielder Aaron Mathews was 3-for-3 with a run scored and a sacrifice bunt.
Game Notes: ASU's three-run third inning extended its NCAA record consecutive games scoring streak to 487 games... Jeremy West extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his run-scoring double to put ASU on the board. Arizona State 14, Oregon State 4 (May 12, 2003 at Corvallis, Ore.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 003 301 124 - 14 13 1 (45-9, 11-5 PAC-10) Oregon State........ 030 100 000 - 4 11 3 (21-25, 5-14 PAC-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Thurmond; McClellan(4); Kartler(8). Oregon State - Rowe; Clark(6); Sanders(7); Anderson(8). Win-McClellan(6-0) Loss-Rowe(3-6) T-4:14 A-1026 HR ASU - Buck (4). --Sun Devil Baseball--