March 17, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- The No. 5 Arizona State Sun Devils pounded out 19 hits by 11 different players en route to a commanding 16-6 non-conference victory over Oklahoma State Wednesday night in front of 3,024 fans at Packard Stadium.
The Devils won their fourth straight and 13th overall in the last 14 games to improve to 19-3 on the year. With its fifth straight loss to the Sun Devils, Oklahoma State fell to 12-7 on the year.
Freshman reliever Josh Blake (Overland Park, Kan.) picked up his first win as a Sun Devil giving up four this and two runs in three innings. Junior right-hander Ty Marotz (Crystal Lake, Ill.) followed giving up one run in three innings and freshman lefty Travis Webb (Spokane, Wash.) pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the victory. Freshman starter Zechry Zinicola (San Bernadino, Calif.) gave up four hits in a predetermined two-inning start.
The Devils were led by a combined 9-for-19 performance from the top of the lineup. Dustin Pedroia (2-for-3, 3 R), Travis Buck (2-or-6, 2 R), Jeff Larish (3-for-6, 2 R, 4 RBI) and cleanup hitter Chris Cook (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI) set the tone at the top of the lineup. Freshman Colin Curtis was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and designated hitter Joel Bocchi added two hits and two RBI.
Oklahoma State starter Spencer Grogan fell to 4-1 on the year after giving up nine hits and six runs in three innings. Seven Cowboy relievers combined to give up 10 hits and 10 runs over the final five innings.
The Cowboys took the early 2-0 lead behind a pair of run-scoring singles in the top of the first inning. Junior third baseman Josh Fields put OSU on the board with a single to right field and left fielder Scott Kirby added a two-out single to left field to stake the Cowboys to a 2-0 lead.
ASU answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the first on a single to left field by Jeff Larish, but OSU pulled back ahead by two with a single tally in the second. Center fielder Thomas Incaviglia scored on a single to center field by leadoff hitter Ty Wright.
The Devils rallied to take the lead with a pair of four-run frames in the third and fourth innings. ASU lead off the third inning with five consecutive hits to start the rally. Larish plated a pair with a double to right field and first baseman Chris Cook plated a run with a single to center field.
ASU extended its lead to 9-3 with another four-run inning in the fourth. Freshman center fielder Colin Curtis had a two-out, two-run double down the left field line and junior designated hitter Joel Bocchi followed with a two-run single.
The offensive explosion continued with a run in the fifth, two in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Junior second baseman Josh Asanovich had a RBI double and senior Nick Walsh had a two-run, pinch-hit double in the seventh.
The Sun Devils open conference action this weekend with a three-game series against California (12-14) starting Friday at 7 p.m. The series against the Golden Bears continues Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) at Packard Stadium.
Game Notes: Dustin Pedroia went 2-for-3 and tied a career high with three walks... he notched his 12th multi-hit game of the year and the 80th of his career... Travis Buck went 2-for-6, recording his seventh multi-hit game of the year... junior All-American Jeff Larish was also 3-for-6 with four RBI and two doubles (7th multi-hit game of 2004)... the attendance of 3,024 is fifth largest of the year and the two-game midweek series drew 6,277 fans... Pedroia and redshirt freshman Seth Dhaenens each extended their hitting streaks to four games. Arizona State 16, Oklahoma State 6 (Mar 17, 2004 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Oklahoma State...... 210 002 100 - 6 12 3 (12-7) Arizona State....... 104 412 22X - 16 19 1 (19-3) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Oklahoma State - Grogan; Richmond(4); Forrest(4); McDonald(5); Weaver(6); Cowley(6); Whitehead(7); Salcedo(8). Arizona State - Zinicola; Blake(3); Marotz(6); Webb(9). Win-Blake(1-0) Loss-Grogan(4-1) T-3:20 A-3024 --Sun Devil Baseball--