May 6, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Junior designated hitter Jeremy West went 2-for-4 with four RBI and blasted two more home runs as the No. 3 Arizona State Sun Devils defeated UC Irvine 11-1 in their final non-conference game of the year Tuesday night at Packard Stadium.
With the victory the Sun Devils picked up their sixth straight win to improve to 44-9 overall and have now won 10 of their last 12 games. ASU finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with an impressive 34-4 record. UC Irvine dropped to 19-30 on the year with the loss.
Senior starting pitcher Ben Thurmond picked up the victory behind three shutout innings to improve to 6-0 on the year. Thurmond recorded the victory by the predetermined start rule and was followed up by several outstanding performances out of the bullpen. Senior right-hander Jered Liebeck gave up just one hit in two scoreless innings and is now tied with Thurmond for the team lead with a 2.35 ERA. Junior closer Ryan Schroyer looked as if he has returned to his old form striking out four in the final two innings without allowing a hit or a run.
Scoring in double-digits for the 27th time this season, ASU out-hit the Anteaters 12-6 with West, shortstop Dustin Pedroia and first baseman Jeff Larish each recording multi-hit games. West continued his torrid hitting as of late recording his third multi-homer game of the year and now has seven home runs in his last five games. With 16 on the year he has taken over the team lead from Larish (15) and is now tied for 10th in the ASU career record books with 35 round-trippers in his three years in the Maroon and Gold. Pedroia recorded his 32nd multi-hit game of the year and added his 29th double of the year to pull to within one of the ASU single-season record of 30 set by Chris Bando in 1978. Larish extended his career-long hitting streak to 14 games with a pair of singles.
UC Irvine freshman starter Kris Krise took the loss to fall to 3-2 on the year. Krise was roughed up for four hits and three runs in just two innings of work. Five UCI relievers combined to give up eight hits and eight hits over the final six innings. The Anteater offense was fueled by a 2-for-3 game from leadoff hitter Gary Dudrey.
Arizona State will take this weekend off for final exams and then take to the road for six straight Pac-10 games in a short eight-day span. The Devils start the road trip with a three-game set at Oregon State (May 12-14) and take on Washington (May 17-19). ASU next returns to Packard Stadium for a regular-season ending three-game series with rival Arizona (May 24-26). For tickets to the Arizona series please contact the Arizona State ticket office at (480) 965-2381. Arizona State 11, UC Irvine 1 (May 06, 2003 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UC Irvine........... 000 000 100 - 1 6 1 (19-30) Arizona State....... 211 002 32X - 11 12 1 (44-9) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: UC Irvine - Krise; Edell(3); Nicoll(6); Tripoli(6); Koehler(7); Raulinaitis(8). Arizona State - Thurmond; Liebeck(4); McClellan(6); Kartler(7); Schroyer(8). Win-Thurmond(6-0) Loss-Krise(3-2) T-3:05 A-1714 HR ASU - West 2 (16); Garrabrants (7). --Sun Devil Baseball--