April 3, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- USC left fielder Baron Frost hit a three-run double as part of a six-run sixth inning to lead the Trojans to a 14-5 come-from-behind victory over the No. 10 Arizona State Sun Devils Saturday afternoon at Packard Stadium. Frost also added a three-run home run in the ninth inning to finish the day 3-for-6 with six RBI.
Pushing the series to the rubber match on Sunday, USC improved to 14-15 overall and 1-1 in Pac-10 play. ASU fell to 22-8 overall and 3-5 in league play. The Sun Devils and Trojans will meet in the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. at Packard Stadium. ASU won the opening game of the three-game set 10-3 on Friday.
USC's six-run sixth all came with two outs. The Trojans sent 12 batters to the plate to take a 9-5 lead. Frost provided the big blow with a three-run double off ASU freshman reliever Quentin Andes (Albuquerque, N.M.). Designated hitter Jon Brewster also plated a run with a single and Andes walked in a run with the bases loaded.
The big inning made a winner of senior reliever Clayton Wentworth (2-2). Wentworth walked two and struck out one in 1.2 scoreless innings. Junior left-handed reliever Michael Friedman, the reigning Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week, sealed the win with four scoreless frames to pick up his third save of the year.
Sun Devil sophomore reliever Erik Averill (Orange, Calif.) surrendered three runs and four hits in 2.2 innings to suffer his first loss of the year to fall to 2-1. The bullpen was forced to put in extra innings after starter Brett Bordes (2-0, 6.75 ERA) was forced to leave with a sore arm after only 1.1 innings (41 pitches). Andes was also roughed up for two runs on two hits without recording an out.
Sun Devil senior second baseman Nick Walsh (Alamo, Calif.) led ASU's 12-hit attack by going 3-for-5 with two runs and a RBI. He is now 7-for-10 for the series with three bunt singles. Sophomore right fielder Travis Buck (2-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 BB) and designated hitter Nick Cadena (2-for-5, 2 RBI) added multi-hit games.
The Devils jumped out to the early 2-0 lead after the first inning. Cadena (Glendale) plated both runs with a double to the left field gap to score Walsh and Buck.
The Trojans pulled to within one run with a single tally in the top of the second on a single by third baseman Billy Hart. ASU answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning on a two-out single by Walsh to extend the lead to 3-1.
USC rallied for a pair of runs with no outs in the fourth to tie the game and threatened to pull ahead. After a two-run single by right fielder Cyle Hankerd to pull the Trojans even, Averill came in to get three quick outs and got out of a bases loaded jam to keep the game tied at 3-3.
A solo home run from junior third baseman Josh Asanovich (Gold Canyon) to lead off the bottom of the fourth quickly put the Sun Devils back on top. Buck extended the lead to 5-3 with a run-scoring double to the right field gap.
The Trojans added five more runs in the ninth to extend the lead to 14-5. Sophomore All-American catcher Jeff Clement plated two runs with a single to left field and Frost drilled a three-run home run. All five runs in the ninth and 11 of the 14 in the game came with two outs.
In addition to Frost's big game, senior second baseman Michael Moon led the Trojans at the plate going 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Game Notes: Junior Josh Asanovich made his first career start at third base... the lineup, which featured Jeff Larish hitting in the No. 6 hole, was the 25th different starting lineup this year... Pat Cassa came in and got a double play in the second inning... combining with his outing Friday, Cassa got four outs on five pitches... ASU scored in the first inning for the 18th time out of 30 games... junior Joel Bocchi recorded a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high six games... junior All-American shortstop Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-5 to snap his season-high 11-game hitting streak. USC 14, Arizona State 5 (Apr 03, 2004 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- USC................. 010 206 005 - 14 14 1 (14-14, 1-1 Pac-10) Arizona State....... 210 200 000 - 5 12 2 (22-8, 3-5 Pac-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: USC - Rummonds; Williams(3); Wentworth(4); Friedman(6). Arizona State - Bordes; Cassa(2); Averill(4); Webb(6); Andes(6); Zinicola(6). Win-Wentworth(2-2) Save-Friedman(3) Loss-Averill(2-1) T-3:44 A-2692 HR USC - Frost (1). HR ASU - Asanovich (2). --Sun Devil Baseball--